Opt-in membership is available to businesses that either exist out-with the catchment area of Nairn BID, or whose property’s rateable value lies below the £1000 threshold, but still wish to support the BID and receive most of the benefits that members do. As Nairn BID exists for the improvement of Nairn as a whole then supporting the BID can be a valuable way of saying to your customers that you as a business are contributing to making Nairn a better place.
Opt-in members receive the same benefits as other members, they just don’t have the voting rights that levy area businesses do when it comes to the renewal ballot for the BID. For the five year business plan which outlines the main areas of spending and objectives of Nairn BID, please click here.
They can apply for free stalls at our events and markets, benefit from free marketing and promotion (website listing, social media sharing and member of the month), and attend our meetings, business workshops and networking events.
Nairn BID organises street markets along the High Street several times a year. The BID also runs Taste of Nairn, Wheels of Nairn and the Countdown to Christmas events.
If you think your business would benefit by being part of the BID and you would like to join, please fill in our application form. You can also send us a photograph and listing wording for the VisitNairn website.
Opt-in membership starts from £125 a year. Membership runs for our financial year from 1st October to 30th September. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch – office@nairnconnects.com
Member of the Month
The Highland Weigh
November 2024
As it celebrates its second birthday, we caught up with zero-waste store, The Highland Weigh, probably one of the most sustainability minded businesses in town.
The Highland Weigh, a social enterprise, is the concept of Amanda MacArthur, a former nurse who was trying to make changes in her home but finding it challenging.
Her concern for the environment was compounded during the pandemic when she witnessed the amount of waste being created through the disposal of sub quality aprons and gloves.
“I was seeing so much waste, it just wasn’t right,” said Amanda, “I had also been trying to reduce waste at home and was doing lots of research on it as I was finding making the changes difficult. This is what led me to realise that there was a gap in the market, so the concept of The Highland Weigh was born. We wanted to make it easy for people to reduce their carbon footprint and at the heart of this for us, is our drive to reduce plastic use and food waste.”
The Highland Weigh is located at 3b High Street an incorporates an extensive refill shop for dry food items, laundry products and toiletries. It also stocks books and an extensive range of other sustainable goods. This is all topped off with a cosy Vegetarian café where you can sit by the stove and tuck into soups, flat breads, sharing platters, toasties and sandwiches and of course a delicious range of cakes and bakes.
“I knew that the concept of the zero-waste shop would work best with the café and two years on, we are very pleased. My son Sean is part of the business, he has created our website and manages our social media/marketing and we currently have a team of 10 members of staff.”
Awards
This month, The Highland Weigh team will find out if they have scooped two key awards.
Amanda with some of her favourite products
On Thursday, November 7, Amanda will travel to the Scottish Parliament for the Social Enterprise Scotland Awards where they are shortlisted in the ‘One to Watch’ category.
And they are also in the running for a Vibes award in the new business category. The ceremony will take place on November 12 in Glasgow.
“We are very excited by these two awards. We were actually visited by the team from the Vibes award. They really looked at what we do from an environmental perspective. They even asked us to talk about the carbon footprint of one of our cups of coffee. Whether we win or not, two years into our journey we are just grateful to be getting recognised.”
Events
The Highland Weigh holds regular events and has often taken part in Nairn BID initiatives such as the recent Terrifying Tenner, Taste of Nairn and has hosted one of our business breakfasts.
Their monthly climate cafes which are run in collaboration with the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub are now well established. The next one, which will take place in January will focus on the Nairn flood risk.
“We really try to focus on topics that are important to the local community, and we get a good turnout to these which is encouraging. It’s great to see that there are so many like-minded people out there.”
They also host Games Nights where friends and family can pitch up, tuck into some great food and play games.
“We tend to run these when we know that university students are home as that is when they seem to work best,” explained Amanda. “They are popular in the colder months and it’s a great way of subtly spreading our message, but also getting different generations together. It just a fun night out.”
The Future
Ther are two key plans for the next few months for The Highland Weigh.
“We are looking at selling online,” said Amanda. “We recently updated our website and we are now exploring how selling online will work for us.”
Another big plan though it to collaborate with the town’s hospitality businesses and encourage them to use more sustainable laundry and toiletry products which they will be able to source from us.
“We really want to engage and see if they can become part of the circular economy. In early 2025 we will be holding an event for businesses at The Highland Weigh, to show them how easy it could be. More and more, tourists and visitors are making destination choices based on whether that business is making sustainable choices, so if we can all work together to make Nairn as eco-friendly as possible, it’s a win for everyone.”
