35 projects will receive £20k each, addressing issues such as bringing vacant buildings into use, protecting cultural spaces and supporting employment on the high street
British Retail Consortium estimate there are around 5,000 fewer shops since the start of the pandemic, with one in seven shops now lie empty.
Overall £4m of funding will be provided to support local councils, businesses and other organisations respond to the huge challenges faced by London’s high streets and town centres.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today announced funding for innovative projects all across the capital aimed at ensuring London’s high streets can flourish and thrive as we emerge from the pandemic. In partnership with councils, business groups and other local organisations 35 exemplar projects will be given seed funding by the Mayor of £20k each, to address issues such as bringing vacant buildings into use, protecting cultural spaces, boosting community business and supporting employment on the high street.
London’s high streets have been impacted hugely by the pandemic, with a loss of over £5 billion in retail sales just in central London as a result of COVID last year. Across the UK, The British Retail Consortium estimate there are around 5,000 fewer shops since the start of the pandemic, meaning one in seven shops now lie empty.
In response, the ‘High Streets for All’ mission was one of nine missions approved by the London Recovery Board in September 2020 to respond to the challenge of building back London’s economy and society, with the Mayor working alongside working alongside London Councils, local authorities, the capital’s business partnerships and its diverse communities.*
While the longer-term impact of COVID on London’s high streets remains uncertain, the Mayor has today reiterated that the capital’s leaders will have to be ‘bold and innovative’ over the coming months to ensure high streets can survive as diverse bustling centres of London’s economy.
Today’s announcement of £700,000 funding for 35 exemplar projects across the capital, includes -
The Barking Town Centre Stakeholder Group seeks to transform a vacant council office building into a welcoming space and testbed model of hybrid workspace, delivering business space, jobs and event space - supporting the growth of the evening economy and community uses.
The Residents of Edmonton Angel Community Together group will take a community first approach to intensify the use of the Fore Street Living Room Library, to build capacity, invigorate local enterprise and develop a cultural programme which supports the night-time economy.
A partnership led by Lewisham Council will build a partnership between the council, public services, land owners, businesses, cultural organisations, education providers and the local community to agree a shared vision for the future of Lewisham High Street. It will identify and deliver projects which will increase footfall within the town centre.
The Somali Advice and Forum of Information (SAAFI)’s strategy for Church Road in Brent will promote a cyclical ecosystem for local people to create, develop and return goods to the community. This circular economy approach includes initiatives which will facilitate, promote and provide local employment opportunities, educational and skills training, locally produced food, resources, and goods and services.
The Future Wood Green BID’s strategy will help test the potential for neighbourhood kitchens to support local food start-ups and catalyse high street revival.
The council’s plans for Greenwich Town Centre will intensify the use of the Greenwich Town Centres market to create an inclusive evening/night time economy with regular night street eateries run by the Good Food in Greenwich network.
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Youth Council will create an “Urban Youth Room” on Notting Hill Gate - a permanent premises on the high street that is a space to display work, create ideas, and deliver projects along the high street, and for the wider area.
Through the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP), overall £4m of funding will be provided from June 2021 and into 2022-23 to support local partnerships to respond to the challenges faced by London’s high streets and town centres.
In the autumn, City Hall will make available between £100,000 and £200,000 additional development funding to 10 to 12 of the exemplar projects, to help develop and deliver larger project proposals and strategies. A second round of exemplar projects will receive additional funding in 2022, and, subject to funding a third cohort the following year.
Working alongside London Councils and local businesses, the aim of the funding is to safeguard and directly deliver a diverse, resilient and thriving mix of high street and town centre activity within easy reach of all Londoners and at all times of day and night, supporting small businesses who have been hit so hard by the pandemic.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said
“The shops, cafes and other businesses on London’s local high streets have been the heartbeat of our economy, but they’ve been hit incredibly hard by the COVID pandemic. As we start to recover, we need to be bold and innovative to ensure our high streets can survive as diverse, bustling centres of our capital’s economy.”
“I’m pleased to be able to announce new funding for projects all across the capital that are leading the way coming up with solutions for the future of our high streets. Whether it’s new ideas for shared working space, bringing old offices back into use or providing space for exciting cultural activities, these ideas will stimulate economic activity and also enrich social and cultural life in our local communities.
“I’m doing all I can to encourage Londoners to safely return to our high streets, but these ongoing partnerships with councils and businesses across the capital will be vital for guaranteeing their future growth and prosperity.”
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, London Councils’ Executive member for Business, Economy and Culture, said:
“London boroughs continue to play a crucial role in regenerating and safeguarding the capital’s high streets by supporting much-loved businesses and the voluntary sector. We are championing and determined to work with local high streets as we recover from the pandemic, not least in supporting the delivery of thousands of additional outdoor eating spaces.
“The pandemic shone a light on the unique importance of local high streets in delivering vital services for our communities. I am delighted that the funding announced today will boost a range of innovative partnership projects rooted in our local communities. This is a great step towards delivering an inclusive economic recovery for all Londoners.”
David Harley, Head of Regeneration, Be First, said:
“We’re delighted to receive this funding. We hope it will help us to transform Roycraft House from a Council office building into a vibrant work and event space which will add further excitement to Barking town centre and bring jobs and investment which will boost the local economy. We’ll use the funding to engage with local residents and stakeholders, and to develop the design and proposals with our selected workspace provider.”
Notes
Since the start of the pandemic, the Mayor has also been supporting hundreds of small businesses through his Back to Business Fund and Pay It Forward London schemes, raising £2.5m overall. Separately, London Business Hub’s Covid-19 Recovery Grants have provided over £1.4m of direct grants to businesses in order to help them adapt their business in response to the pandemic. This has supported nearly 1,500 businesses. The Mayor has also allocated £2.3 million for a Culture at Risk fund to help some of London""s most imperilled creative and night-time businesses, such as cinemas and music venues.
More information on the High Streets for All Challenge can be found here - https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/regeneration/funding-opportunities/high-streets-all-challenge
More information on London’s Recovery Board can be found here - The London Recovery Board | London City Hall
The full list of projects being funded can be found here:
High Streets for All Challenge: Stage 2 projects
Borough
High Street
Lead organisation
Project description
Barking & Dagenham
Barking Town Centre
Barking Town Centre Stakeholder Group
Transforming a vacant council office building into a testbed model of hybrid workspace delivering business space, jobs, event space, supporting the growth of the evening economy, community uses and much more.
City of London
Middlesex Street
Aldgate Connect
Supporting a unique London street by building on an existing public realm modernisation programme and well-established community engagement strategy, to develop a more inclusive high street.
Enfield
Fore Street, Upper Edmonton
REACT (Residents of Edmonton Angel Community Together) Ltd
Intensifying the use of the Fore Street Living Room Library, to build capacity, invigorate local enterprise and develop a cultural programme which supports the night time economy.
Hackney
Morning Lane
Pack London
Developing a new cultural hub that offers affordable business units for local food and creative industry traders, a community vegetable garden, children’s play area and public seating.
Havering
Romford High Street
Havering Changing
Supporting a multicultural centre as a space for the community to experiment with concepts, ideas and innovation, build new connections and reflect the vibrant history of Romford as a historic market town.
Haringey
Wood Green High Road
Future Wood Green BID
Testing the potential for neighbourhood kitchens to support local food start-ups and catalyse high street revival.
Newham
Stratford High Street
Creative Land Trust (CLT)
Turning a long disused listed building into the high street’s creative hub, converting Heritage at Risk into jobs, economic activity, learning and inspiration for a reengaged local community.
Redbridge
Ilford High Road
Ilford BID
Bringing the business and residential community together with social and cultural partners and improve Ilford Town Centre. Building on existing investments, the strategy will focus on how to deliver a programme of urban interventions and socio-cultural initiatives that promote inclusivity to create a Town centre that is truly for all.
Tower Hamlets
Redchurch Street
onRechurch CIC
Creating a Place of Engagement, led by a new Community Interest Company, to leverage empty space, knowledge, skills and creativity for local benefit. The pilot project will bring innovation, diversity and social entrepreneurship to occupancies and improve the quality and value of the public realm.
Waltham Forest
Highams Park
Highams Park Community CIC
Reimagining Highams Park District Centre to better suit the needs of the growing, younger, and more diverse population, by creating an active community space as a base for regular craft & food markets for local creatives and producers.
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Borough
High Street
Lead organisation
Project description
Hackney / Tower Hamlets
Hackney Wick Circular High Street
Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust
Supporting pilot projects that give underserved and vulnerable communities an agency in local development. Projects will disseminate opportunity in Hackney Wick’s creative economy to currently underserved communities, harness local precedents to build a circular economy, and establish routes and wayfinding that spotlight the creative industries and connect local green spaces.
Barnet
High Street, Chipping Barnet
Chipping Barnet Town Team
Repopulating vacant high street units through the creation of innovative incubator spaces that attract and empower a new generation of local entrepreneurs.
Brent
Church Road
SAAFI
Developing a High Street Strategy to promote a cyclical ecosystem for local people to create, develop and return goods to the community, as well as supporting initiatives that address local poverty and increase community integration.
Camden
Kilburn High Road (combined project)
Life in Kilburn / TfL
Bringing together bids from community groups and landowners to help develop a comprehensive strategy for Kilburn High Road.
Ealing
Acton High Street (combined project)
Acton High Street / Acton Arts CIC / RESOLVE Collective
Bringing together bids from community groups to help develop a comprehensive strategy for Acton High Street.
Hammersmith & Fulham
Wandsworth Bridge Road
Wandsworth Bridge Road Association (WBRA)
Developing a 15-minute city approach for Wandsworth Bridge Road, supporting modal shift and a focal point that unites local community and business groups.
Hillingdon
Uxbridge High Street
Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce (HCC)
Supporting a struggling high street to adapt by building on its heritage to attract new visitors.
Borough
High Street
Lead organisation
Project description
Hounslow
Hounslow High St (combined project)
All That Is Good: Hounslow / Hounslow Arts Centre
Bringing together two bids to develop a comprehensive strategy for Hounslow High Street.
Harrow
Wealdstone Town Centre
Wealdstone Traders Association
Hosting a range of events and markets in the newly opened Wealdstone Square to transform the image of Wealdstone, making it attractive to the local population, both its old and new communities.
Islington
Holloway Road
Manor Gardens Welfare Trust
Creating a safe, welcoming, accessible space that has a purpose for everyone around Holloway Road and Islington. The new space will provide a café, shop, safe haven and training space for the many parts of the community.
Kensington & Chelsea
Notting Hill Gate
RBKC Youth Council
RBKC Youth and community Participation
Creating an “Urban Youth Room” on Notting Hill Gate- a permanent premises on the High Street that is a space to display work, create ideas, and deliver projects for current and future ideas along the High Street, and the wider Borough.
Richmond
Richmond Town Centre
Richmond BID
Revitalising an underutilised side street full of heritage and architecture into a much-needed town square. This intervention will bring communities together, support local businesses, support walking and cycling, encourage creative and cultural uses and reduce anti-social behaviour.
Westminster
Harrow Road (combined project)
Westminster City Council / The Screen Film Community
Enabling the creative reuse of vacant and underused assets with a focus on affordability, flexibility and meanwhile use.
Creating a multi-generational café and Cultural Hub, including a collaborative workspace, at the site of the Windsor Arms, Harrow Road.
Bexley
Bexleyheath Town Centre
Bexleyheath Business Partnership Ltd
Developing a strategy to promote a 24-hour economy on the high street and to support the animation of outdoor space with cultural and other events.
Bromley
Bromley High Street
LB Bromley
Supporting the significant cultural and leisure offering located within Bromley town centre through the provision of high-quality cultural programming that is free to access for residents and visitors.
Borough
High Street
Lead organisation
Project description
Croydon
Purley Town Centre
Purley BID
Transforming Purley from a town that you ‘pass through’ to an inter-generational, inclusive destination that supports: a rapidly changing diverse community by providing spaces and events to connect and celebrate; mental health through stimulating and invigorating environment and activities; physical health by ease of access for walking and cycling through enhanced public spaces; improving our environmental issues through community led greening; a welcoming reception through a creative use of space, light, art and wayfinding; entrepreneurial creativity through social and retail collaborations.
Greenwich
Greenwich Town Centre
RB Greenwich
Intensifying the use of Greenwich Town Centres Market to create an evening/night time economy with regular night street eateries run by the Good Food in Greenwich network. These will showcase the borough’s large concentration of artists and makers and offer market incubator spaces for university students and young entrepreneurs.
Kingston
New Malden Town Centre
RB Kingston
Developing a Prosperity Strategy that expresses the town""s cultural distinctiveness, proposes a green sustainable future and boosts its day and night-time economy through an offer that focuses on re-using, fixing, sharing and creative uses
Lambeth
Norwood Road and High Street
Station to Station BID
Supporting high street adaptation by converting underused and vacant spaces to be used for creative, meanwhile and workspace usage.
Lewisham
Lewisham High Street
LB Lewisham
Building a partnership between the council, public services, landowners, businesses, cultural organisations, education providers and the local community to agree a shared vision for the future of Lewisham High Street.
Merton
Morden Town Centre
LB Merton
Developing a series of targeted, meanwhile (5yrs+) public realm and placemaking initiatives to support Mordentown centre in the interim. This will include parklets, planting, patterned crossings, wider pavements, and cycle lanes, all learning from TFL Streetspace projects.
Southwark
Rye Lane, Peckham
Mountview Academy Theatre Arts
Fostering an inclusive and engaged recovery in Peckham town centre by engaging with existing stakeholders in the area to create an inclusive, diverse and representative network to support and heal the neighbourhood.
Sutton
Sutton High Street
LB Sutton
Forming a Climate Emergency Response Partnership to prepare a joint strategy and implement circular economy pilot projects. These projects will demonstrate the role the High Street can play in tackling the climate emergency.
Wandsworth
Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction BID
Uniting a wide range of community groups and organisations to overcome issues of physical and social severance, and to seek the best solutions to utilise new digital approaches to enhance the town centre’s identity.
Lambeth / Croydon / Bromley
Crystal Palace
Upper Norwood Library Trust
Transforming a dilapidated and underused car park to provide valuable flexible affordable working space. The space will become an incubator for new and creative uses and help diversify the high street.