About Us

“GO! Southampton is a great opportunity for businesses to work in partnership to make sure our City Centre works for them; independent retailer or multi-national corporate, Go! Southampton will deliver clear benefits to all. That’s why the owners and management of The Marlands are supporting GO! Southampton.”

Caroline Osman is the owner and Managing Director of W. J. French & Son. She is the 8th generation of her family to run the award-winning shoe shop, which has been trading in Southampton for over 200 years. Caroline had a career as a Chartered Surveyor before moving back to her home town of Southampton in 2014 to run the family business. She helps communicate the challenges that face independent businesses and the opportunities they could benefit from. Caroline has been a member of the board since 2016 is Vice president and chairs the Greater City Centre Experience theme group.

“Womble Bond Dickinson can trace its roots in Southampton back to 1646 and is proud to support Go Southampton! Personally, I have lived and worked in Southampton most of my life and I am passionate about helping the city realise its full potential as a world class city. The BID is a great opportunity to bring together people and ideas to deliver tangible change within the city and to help deliver on that potential..”

Solent University can trace its roots in Southampton back to 1856 and we are committed to both great education and being a valuable civic partner. We’re delighted to be part of GO! Southampton and share the goals of ensuring Southampton is an attractive, vibrant and economically successful city.

“As a large developer in Southampton our objective is to provide high quality, sustainable residential and mixed-use developments to support the cities regeneration programme. Our aims dovetail with those of GO! Southampton and all the businesses involved and we are delighted to be part of this initiative.”

“Overjoyed to be part of and work alongside some of the greatest and experienced minds of Southampton’s Board of Directors.”

“I am the owner of STAKKS Pancake House and represent the small and independent businesses in the city. I was asked to join the team as I am known for my passion, attention to detail and business drive. I always look for ways to improve myself, my business, my community and now I can also contribute to my City. I believe that Southampton can and should be bigger and better, after all the potential is immense. The BID is bringing everyone together to create a City that we all can be proud of.”

“Southampton is a City with huge untapped potential and as we emerge from a year of uncertainty we have new opportunities to drive positive change and take collaborations to the next level. I believe working together with colleagues from the local business economy is a chance to realise the endless possibilities for our City to grow, develop and thrive.”

Over the past five years we have worked closely with GO! Southampton to help improve our city centre and businesses thrive. Improvements we have been able to work on together include enhanced cleansing and maintenance operations for the city. They have also improved coordination of the city’s marketing and delivered crowd-drawing events, helping to build Southampton’s city visitor numbers and reputation.

Southampton is a vibrant city with so much potential and GO! Southampton provides businesses with an opportunity to collaborate and work towards improving their local areas providing benefits to both businesses and residents. Born in Southampton, I am passionate about making a positive difference to the City.

“I can see the positive changes that are being brought about by the BID and I am really pleased to be able to represent the night time economy as another important element of Southampton’s fantastic offer.”

“GO! Southampton is a great driving force to help attract and grow the business community within the city. As a prominent employer in the heart of Southampton we are excited to work together with other like-minded businesses to make a real difference to the appearance, vibrancy and heartbeat of a truly historic waterfront city.”

GO! Southampton is bringing businesses in the city together to give Southampton more to shout about and to shape the city’s bright future. GO! Southampton’s ambition will move Southampton forward as a place to live, to work and to do business. As one of the largest employers in the area, that’s why Carnival UK supports the BID.

Laura is General Manager of Westquay, the South Coast’s leading retail, dining and leisure destination located in the heart of Southampton. Laura grew up on the other side of the New Forest and has lived close to the city for most of her life. With a background in licensed retail and hospitality, bringing people together to enjoy experiences in a vibrant and exciting destination is really close to her heart.

Laura has operated businesses or regions that span across many different areas of the country – from central London to Yorkshire and from South Wales to the length of the South Coast – and therefore is pleased to be able to bring learnings from other cities and areas back to Southampton to its benefit.

As a business stakeholder in the city, Laura really sees the benefit and opportunity that GO! Southampton has to help bring prosperity and economic success to the city centre.

"GO! Southampton go above and beyond to respond to the challenges facing the city with crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as supporting in decreasing stock loss through theft. They have secured significant external investment and infrastructure to protect our business and our colleagues".

Toby is Managing Director of Southampton Football Club and a qualified Chartered Accountant. He has been a resident of the wider Southampton area since 2005 and enjoys being part of the BID, which plays a crucial role to improve the experience for businesses of all sizes within the city and everyone visiting the city, regardless of their purpose. Toby also sits on GO! Southampton’s Finance & Scrutiny Committee.

Giles joins the BID from Place Making Consultancy, the means and has a wealth of experience in planning, setting up and running BIDs. He has led placemaking projects in more than 50 UK neighbourhoods, towns and cities, always with an emphasis on innovation and creativity. He has also worked overseas, and is a founding member of the European BIDs Network.

Rebecca has a wealth of experience within the BID industry. Initially working for Kingstonfirst, the UK's first Business Improvement District leading the Shaping Kingston theme to transform the town centre and latterly as Deputy CEO of Basingstoke Together BID. She joins the team as Operations Director, leading the Great City Centre Experience area of work.  To achieve this she works closely with a number of key partners, including Southampton City Council to deliver improvements to the city centre.

Gemma joins the BID with a diverse partnerships and events background. Originating from the North West, Gemma was part of the team that delivered Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008, focusing on the commercial partnership acquisition and delivery for the city. She then moved to the South Coast initially as Global Partnerships Manager for Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, managing global partnerships and events across the race schedule. Her role at the BID is to develop long standing commercial partnerships and an engaging events that deliver significant economic impact to the area.

Flo joined the team after finishing her Masters degree at Solent University in Journalism and Multimedia Communications. During her time in education she worked as an intern with GO! Southampton primarily working on the marketing and execution of the SO What? magazine. Prior to this Flo completed her undergraduate degree in Multimedia Journalism at Solent and therefore holds strong written and communication skills. She has lived in the city for six years and has worked in the hospitality sector in Southampton as well as working for Solent Creatives.

Before joining our team, Gemma worked as the Office Manager within an IT Recruitment company. Her organisation skills were also strengthened by her years as Personal Assistant at Southampton City Council for senior managers within the Education sector. As a proud Southampton resident, she is truly passionate about the GO! Southampton mission.

Martin has recently retired after 30 years with the Hampshire Constabulary, his last 14 spent managing the Southampton City Centre police team in the day and night time economies.  He brings with him a wealth of relevant knowledge and experience to assist with the challenge of reducing business crime in our BID area.

Carol has lived in Southampton all her life recently retiring from Hampshire Constabulary after 17 years as a Police Constable serving in Southampton. Carol has a wealth of experience of the city centre where she served as a local Neighbourhood Beat Officer for the day and night time economies until 2017. Carols last three years of service was based in the Resolution Centre Business Crime Team. With this knowledge and recent experience within the Business Crime team Carol assists with the challenges in reducing business crime for the day and night time economies.

Debbi is Southampton based and has gained over 17 years of Customer Service experience in both the retail and hospitality sectors. Her role as a Street Ranger is both diverse and rewarding, from reporting environmental issues to welcoming and directing tourists. No 2 days are ever the same! She hopes to make a real difference to the City so that Southampton is an even better place to work, live and visit.

Rishi has over 15 years experience developing relationships and adding value across the public and private sectors. Managing the implementation of a national buying group to over 100 Business Improvement Districts, Rishi and his team at Place Support Partnership bring extensive knowledge of the energy, water, telecoms and merchant commodities providing businesses with expert advice, market intelligence, unrivalled support and choice.

Sam has been working within the security industry for the past 13 years covering retail, static, courts and events in Dorset, Hampshire and the wider area. With this he has acquired a wide knowledge of the sector. While with GO! Southampton he has been helping to support  businesses with theft, and anti social issues as well as working alongside other agencies to help improve Southampton City Centre.

Martin and Jim are part of the fantastic GO! Southampton cleansing team which was launched in partnership with Southampton City Council.