Tag Archive for: Business survey

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.
Passcode: W.8L3!ER

Business Survey Results and Actions

Stat for biz survey report

Thank you to all the respondents – the 2019 survey received responses from nearly 40% of our BID businesses.

We asked you about a number of areas including:

  • Business Services / Marketing
  • Lobbying for Businesses
  • Recruitment
  • Sustainability and the Environment
  • Love Wimbledon
  • View of the Town Centre

94% of businesses said Wimbledon look and feel was a good selling point

Our survey highlighted some positive moves forward in the town centre and what the key areas for improvement or concern for businesses were. We analysed the results and provided a thorough action plan to the Love Wimbledon Board for approval which feeds into our delivery plan.

View of the Town Centre

83%                        agreed it was safe

90%                        agreed it was popular

81%                        agreed it was attractive

71%                        agreed it was interesting

Key Issues

  • Cost of parking
  • Recruitment (Brexit)
  • Sustainability (including plastic / traffic)

We are continuing our pressure on Merton Council to keep parking affordable in the town centre and we continue to work with Sustainable Merton on a number of business and environmental initiatives to improve plastic use and traffic impact. Please keep reading the business updates for more.

Love Wimbledon gets an 83% satisfaction rate

What’s working well

We were really pleased to see such strong support for the promotion we do, especially the FREE website listing, social media and 360 degree photos for Google. Find out more about the Marketing & Promotion we offer to BID businesses.

The Staff Privilege Card continues to top the charts as being our most important business service, with our newsletter updates, free membership to Merton Chamber, the cost effective waste collection and the various awards all being important. See all the ways you can promote your business.

88% of businesses think transport is a good selling point

86% the types of shops/restaurants are an asset

What’s important for the town centre:

  • Look and Feel
  • Through traffic
  • Trees / greenery
  • Air quality
  • Single-use plastic
  • Parking
  • Police Station

We are working on a number of campaigns to address the above, see our Campaign page for more information.

About Love Wimbledon

95% of those who knew said we are having a positive effect

88% of those who knew us feel part of the town and represented by Love Wimbledon

94% of those who knew felt we got issues resolved

Summary

Satisfaction rates in most areas are high, with some businesses raising concerns over Brexit, type of retail / leisure portfolio and parking. The green sustainability agenda continues to gain traction; from air quality to single use plastics. We will continue to promote this agenda and set a good example ourselves through our own business practices, whilst keeping a watching brief on the impact of decisions on Wimbledon such as the extension of the ULEZ zone.

Many of the issues within this are the responsibility of other organisations whether Merton Council, the GLA, TfL or businesses themselves. However, we will continue to lobby, investigate working in partnership with them and get the business voice heard to make a difference and ultimately see a BETTER Wimbledon Town Centre.

100% of new businesses found Love Wimbledon welcoming and helpful