Christmas Activities in Wimbledon

Christmas Market food stall

Love Wimbledon are hosting a range of FREE events and promotions to bolster the Christmas period, aiming to drive footfall to the town centre and enhance the overall experience for visitors, supported by a strong marketing campaign.

The Wimbledon Gift Card

A gift for all this Christmas. We’re launching The Wimbledon Gift Card, an exclusive card to redeem at participating Wimbledon Town Centre businesses, including independents, brands, lifestyle, shops, theatre, restaurants and more. Perfect for the person who has everything, last-minute presents and employee gifts. If your business would like to take part in the gift card programme, please register here, and look out for when this launches – it’s also a great opportunity for a tax-free gift for your employees.

Christmas Tree

A perennial favourite, the Christmas Tree will appear again on the station forecourt, lighting up the town. Jointly sponsored by Centre Court Shopping, The Piazza and Love Wimbledon. 

Wimbledon Reindeer Trail: 19th November – 1st January

Eight vibrant and colourful reindeer (plus Rudolf!) will decorate the streets of Wimbledon this Christmas. In partnership with Centre Court Shopping and The Piazza, see if you can spot them in town – with a theatrical twist!

Christmas Markets: five consecutive weekends, from 20th November

This year marks the 10th anniversary of our festive markets on The Piazza, which take place annually across five weekends during the Christmas period. The markets provide a winter shopping and eating experience over 12 days, including two Fridays (10th and 17th December) where employees can pop down during their lunches/after work. 11am – 6pm

Wimbledon Winter Weekender: 27th & 28th November

Our NEW Winter Weekender will welcome visitors to the town centre with festivities across two days, replacing our previous one-day Winter Wonderland event and tying into the Black Friday shopping weekend. 12pm – 5pm

Visitors will enjoy:

  • Performances
  • Brass band
  • Roller skating Christmas characters
  • Ice carving demonstration
  • Father Christmas appearance
  • Fireworks Display (5pm on Sunday, courtesy of Centre Court Shopping)
  • And more!

The majority of activities will take place around the station forecourt, The Piazza and Centre Court, with an appearance of entertainment near New Wimbledon Theatre and Polka Theatre, as shows end, providing additional enjoyment for theatre-goers.  


We look forward to a joyful festive season for the town and businesses within, with the community coming together once again and celebrating Christmas. Get in touch to let us know what your business has planned and we can promote your offering. info@lovewimbledon.org

Future of Centre Court Shopping Centre

A neighbourhood hub for the future – Romulus plans the transformation of Wimbledon’s Centre Court Shopping Centre.

The transformation of the Centre Court Shopping Centre in Wimbledon is set to begin as owners and managers Romulus start the process of placing Centre Court back at the heart of Wimbledon’s local residents and businesses.

Following their purchase of the centre in April 2021, Romulus have committed to transforming the inward-looking, 1990s retail environment into a lively, open, space to meet friends or colleagues, shop, relax, eat & drink, work or work out.

These changes will be carried out while retaining the existing structure, ensuring that almost all existing businesses stay open and critically that the environmental damage from demolition is entirely avoided.

The process has now begun, with Romulus proposing a series of initial interventions that focus on four key areas:

  • Placemaking on Queens Road to create welcoming, green and bright places designed around pedestrians. This will include a new community entranceway.
  • A new central courtyard with a retractable roof that opens up on sunny days.
  • Improvements to the existing entrances that include a new art installation, which will brighten up the main Broadway entrance.
  • A mix of new dynamic uses to cater to the demands of local residents including new shops, gym, workspaces, restaurants, bars and more.

CGI’s of proposed Umbrella Sky and enhanced food/drink experiences with more outdoor spaces

Combined, the measures outlined will start the evolution of the Shopping Centre from a centre that is half-empty to a new dynamic hub that caters to the needs of the people of Wimbledon. In order to deliver these changes, a series of planning applications will be submitted to Merton Council over the course of this month.

Following on from these, in November, Romulus will be speaking to the local community about possible further measures that would help to continue the process of diversifying and modernising Centre Court. Have your say and detail what you think the future should look like for Centre Court.

Alex Woolf, Strategy Director at Romulus, added:

“We are excited to be proposing a number of improvements to Centre Court that will begin to enhance the experience for visitors and businesses alike. This is the start of a journey that we want to take with the local community over the coming months. We know the deep affection everyone in Wimbledon has for their town centre and realise the important role Centre Court can play in its evolution.

By opening the centre up, improving pedestrian access from all sides and attracting new uses we believe our proposals can start to make the changes people want to see. We believe that the success of Centre Court comes from placing local residents and businesses at its heart and over the coming months we will consult with Wimbledon’s residents about other measures we could take as we seek to provide the leisure and retail experience that is currently missing in Wimbledon.”

Works will begin January 2022 and are estimated for completion in Autumn 2022.

Love Wimbledon Business Improvement District Gets a YES!

Love Wimbledon has received a majority YES vote from businesses, to renew the BID for a third term from April 2022 for five years.

85% of businesses voted ‘YES’, representing 92% of the rateable value, enabling a further £2.5 million of investment from businesses into Wimbledon Town Centre over the next five years. This result gives clear confirmation and support of Love Wimbledon BID’s previous performance and delivery, and is a very strong mandate for our future based on our BID Proposal 2022-27.

“Businesses, people and places make a high street and a confident business district. Wimbledon Town Centre has a strong and positive business community who have voted for the Love Wimbledon BID placing the town in a great position for the future. We will continue to listen to the businesses, we will be responsive and transparent, we will innovate and aim to provide a sustainable future for Wimbledon Town Centre” – Helen Clark Bell, CEO of Love Wimbledon BID

Helen Clark Bell

A big thank you to our businesses, as well as the wider community of residents, visitors and users of Wimbledon Town Centre, who have also shown us great support over the last few years. Together we make our town even better.

Our ambition is for Wimbledon to be an evolving town centre where businesses thrive, people visit and communities engage. To do this, we will:

  • Create Better Places, Spaces and Experience
  • Promote and Support Business
  • Become Greener and More Sustainable

Love Wimbledon Business Improvement District was set up in 2012 and our third term will begin in April 2022.

Find out more about our Renewal Ballot here.

*BIDs are required to meet two criteria to be successful: a straight majority by the number of those voting and a majority in the rateable value of those voting.

Time & Leisure 10th Anniversary Food and Culture Awards Launch

 

Awards season is upon us! Back for the 10th year, the Time & Leisure #FoodAndCulture awards celebrate world-class food, drink and culture in South West London and Surrey,  recognising the talented and passionate people who make us our hospitality and arts industries.

Love Wimbledon is proud to be sponsoring the ‘Wimbledon Town Centre People’s Choice Award‘ and know the community will be hot on voting for their favourites.

If you’re a restaurant, café, food and drink producer, theatre and arts venue or festival, enter your business and share the voting page with your customers HERE. Each time a customer votes they have a chance to win one of several fabulous prizes, with more being added during the voting period.

Work in Wimbledon Town Centre? Vote for your favourites HERE!

Voting closes 29th November.