DESTINATION: WANDSWORTH BRIDGE ROAD
Businesses invited to the first meeting of THE WBR BUSINESS NETWORK
Following the huge success of the Spring Fayre last May it became clear there was not only a strong desire for more events on WBR but also a desire amongst the businesses themselves to engage more with each other.
The Spring Fayre showed what is possible when people work together towards a shared goal. While many people said this road couldn’t be closed for a street event, together we showed that not only could it be done but that by doing so it attracted nearly 10,000 extra visitors to the road who bought things, ate things and spent their money here! In short, we made Wandsworth Bridge Road a DESTINATION for thousands of people for one day. What if we could make it a ‘Destination’ throughout the year?
Over the past year we have been working very closely with the LBHF Business team both for the Spring Fayre but also as part of the longer term objective of permanently creating a thriving ‘destination’ High Street. LBHF work with the consultancy firm Heartflood who help businesses in similar areas with Place Management & Development. These can include small, informal local business groups to full BIDs (Business Improvement Districts). Together, LBHF and Heartflood are offering to help the WBR businesses to establish such a network.
Meetings
So we would like to invite all businesses on WBR to get involved so we can hear your thoughts. This is your opportunity to meet the other owners, share ideas, help identify areas that need attention and to work towards meaningful improvements, not only for the road as a whole but also for your businesses.
Together we can brainstorm:
- What form of collaboration / network would you like to see?
- How do we collectively create a WBR that is a ‘destination’, with a unique draw?
- How can we tempt more visitors, similar to other nearby roads like Northcote Rd or Old York Rd?
- Is there a way to bring more entertainment to the road to create even wider interest?
- What changes to the pavements, lighting, layout, etc could help support this?
- What can we do collectively for the street at Christmas?
- Can we make better use of the wide pavements?
- How could we utilise the empty units in a way that compliments the existing businesses?
These are just some example initial questions and we want to hear your own.
When
We’ve been told a weekday, mid-afternoon meeting is probably the best time. The meeting will be in-person in one of the WBR businesses and we will endeavour to make this available via Zoom as well. We will be setting up the next meeting shortly.
In the meantime please register your interest here.
Together you can strengthen each other and make WBR a real retail and entertainment Destination.
Graphic art: Network Vectors by Vecteezy