Tag Archive for: BID renewal

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.

Event Recap: More Independent Shops
and Better Places and Spaces

Summarising key findings from their latest business survey, Love Wimbledon BID held an online meeting attended by over 60 businesses, titled The Next Five Years. Over 80% of businesses, in our recent consultation think Love Wimbledon is promoting the Town Centre well, with 80% also agreeing they represent the interests of their business. Even in a year of pandemic more than ¾ of businesses agreed that Wimbledon has engaging events and is a great town to visit with even higher numbers agreeing they feel supported with a good range of services and marketing.

But not an organisation to sit still, during the overview more questions were asked of the attending audience. So what were the results? 85% thought families would be the biggest future market for Wimbledon Town Centre. When asked about new high street businesses, top of the polls was a desire to see more independents being part of the town centre, in fact improved retail was seen as the most important thing to attract visitors in the future. Big brands however weren’t seen as the real attraction receiving fewer than half the votes. There was a clear demand for healthier places and spaces, with major support to reduce traffic and improve the look and feel of Wimbledon town centre.

Alex Woolf, a Director of Romulus, the new owners of Centre Court Shopping, introduced himself discussing their Huddle formula of workspaces currently in Hammersmith acknowledging the importance of the strong residential market that is on Wimbledon’s doorstep. Mixed-use and rethinking buildings seems to be their approach, whilst entwining conservation and sustainability into their designs and future. A warm, Wimbledon welcome was extended to Alex and the rest of the Romulus team.

So what next? Love Wimbledon will be surveying visitors and community groups over the coming weeks to see what their priorities are, and as Love Wimbledon comes up to our BID renewal the aim will be to ensure we lobby for, or deliver these needs over the next five years, to help with a strong recovery from the pandemic and to make Wimbledon a more attractive place for everyone.

To watch a recording of the meeting click here.
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