Q: What does typical ‘day in the life’ look like for you as Chief Executive of Love Wimbledon?
I know it’s a bit of a cliché to say this, but every day is genuinely different, it’s one of the great joys of this role – there is always something new to keep you occupied. On any given day I could be working with a range of stakeholders, including local levy payers, local authority teams, politicians, placemaking agencies, resident groups and landowners – Wimbledon is a complex and ever-evolving town centre. Then sometimes I’m happy to be at my desk with a constant supply of tea, making sure the team are happy, the lights stay on and the bills get paid!
Q: How does Love Wimbledon deliver value for businesses/levy-payers and Wimbledon Town Centre?
We pride ourselves in taking a very segmented approach to this challenge. While a lot of our most visible work is designed to drive footfall and ensure our retail and hospitality businesses continue to thrive, we are also acutely aware of the need to make sure the office community in Wimbledon are similarly getting value for money from us, whether microbusinesses, SMEs or corporates. This is why propositions like the Privilege Card, First Mile waste collection and the SEEDL online learning platform are really important too, and why our work on safety, planting and graffiti removal benefits all of our levy payers, in terms of working in as attractive and safe a town centre as possible.
Q: With major developments like office spaces, residential and hotels underway, how is the BID working to attract a diverse mix of businesses to Wimbledon Town Centre?
This is an important and often unseen aspect of my role. We undertake research regularly with visitors, residents and businesses which discusses the types of businesses they would like to see in Wimbledon, and we use this plus our own intelligence of what is happening in UK and International high streets, together with our Wimbledon Town Centre performance data to make the case for investing in Wimbledon to property owners, developers and agents. We even held an Evolving Wimbledon investor conference for these audiences in 2024. There is without question a “Wimbledon business” that you instinctively know is going to be successful here, and I try to influence landowners that these are the businesses they should be choosing as tenants for long-term mutual success. Looking at how low our vacancy rates are compared to other UK towns, and the success of some of our most recent openings, I think the message is being heard, and the arrival of another nearly 400 hotel rooms in Wimbledon over the next two years will only boost the town centre’s reputation further.
Q: What do you think is Love Wimbledon’s biggest achievement in this current term?
There is so much, a quick glance through our new business plan shows you the range of things we have delivered! One thing I was particularly proud of was the Business Masterclass Series, which brought some outstanding speakers together from a range of great businesses to talk about some of the biggest challenges affecting commerce after the pandemic. We held events on areas including managing your business finances in the cost of business crisis, new HR challenges from remote working, the commercial benefits of business sustainability and the evolution of workspaces. The calibre of all of these events was superb. I am keen to do something similar again in the next BID term if we win our ballot.
Q: What is your vision for the BID in the next five years?
We want to keep doing what our businesses have told us they love about our work, but to amplify areas further such as marketing experiences, safety support and town centre greening and cleaning. In addition, given the arrival of two further hotels to complement our existing three hotels, and the arrival of several large new office-based businesses and major high street retailers like Primark, we will increasingly become a destination in our own right on an all-year round basis, not just during the Championship fortnight. It’s an exciting time to be here in Wimbledon, and I see Love Wimbledon operating at the heart of this evolution. This, and of course, always more Wombles!
Q: Wimbledon is famous for the tennis Championships but if you could choose one hidden gem or favourite spot that visitors overlook the rest of the year, where would that be?
For me it’s Wimbledon BookFest. I am a lifelong reader with an English Literature degree, and having so many wonderful thinkers and writers coming to Wimbledon Town Centre every October is an incredible gift to our town. Expect more cultural programming from Love Wimbledon in the next five years too – we would love to find ways to bring more visual arts into the Town Centre for everyone to enjoy!
