New West End Company

The Mayor of London’s recent announcement of a Mayoral Development Corporation for Oxford Street was a welcome acknowledgement, at the highest levels, of the critical role the district can play in driving growth, not just for London, but for the whole of the U.K. It was a pleasure to join both the Mayor, and Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, on the rooftop of John Lewis’ Oxford Street flagship to launch the proposal, and to have New West End Company’s perspective picked up by the likes of The Guardian, City A.M., Property Week and Drapers.

Of course, realising the Mayor’s ambitious vision for the street will be technically complex and, having worked closely with Westminster City Council and other stakeholders over the last 18 months, we know that the devil will be in the detail. Over the coming months, we look forward to being a strong voice for our 600 members and the wider West End community as we work to make his vision a reality. Given the history of past schemes, we know how essential it is that we now move swiftly to deliver this project and, with it, growth for the West End, London and the U.K. 

Growth was the focus of the recent Labour Party Conference, attended by myself and Nathan Parsad-Wyatt, New West End Company’s Director of Communications and Campaigns. We had the opportunity to discuss many of our West End priorities – outlined in our Manifesto – with key Government and local stakeholders throughout the Conference, including Chris Bryant MP., Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism. Alongside other industry leaders, from UKHospitality and the Tourism Alliance, I joined the Minister at a New Statesman roundtable to discuss how we can work together to unlock further growth in the £28 billion international visitor market. 

At London Real Estate Forum, which brought together nearly 2,000 delegates this year, it was my pleasure to speak alongside Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber, about how cities across the U.K. can collaborate to deliver better outcomes for all – whether that is securing inward investment, or adapting to new workplace realities. Joined by counterparts from Greater Manchester and Newcastle, I was encouraged by our shared optimism for the future and the opportunities that may be presented by the Government’s commitment to greater devolution. 

The district’s all important Golden Quarter will soon be upon us and the West End will once again be lit up with a dazzling array of festive displays. Planning for the season is well underway; our Insights team are preparing spending and footfall forecasts, our iconic lighting displays are installed and ready for switch-on, and our Marketing and Operations teams are putting the finishing touches on our seasonal campaigns to ensure the district is looking its best. We will be sharing further details on all of the above at our annual Festive Forecast Briefing on 2 October, and I look forward to seeing many familiar faces there. 

DESTINATION MARKETING

From 5 November, Oxford Street’s dazzling lights display will lead the way in kick-starting the festive season. This year, we are delighted to be partnering with Great Ormond Street Hospital, encouraging visitors to embrace the spirit of giving this Christmas. In the ultimate celebration of Christmas cheer, Oxford Street will host the ‘Big Day of Joy’ for Great Ormond Street Hospital on 7 December, with a spectacular celebration of on-street entertainment, unmissable in-store offers and magical festive experiences. We are set to announce our exciting brand partner for Bond Street in early October, so keep an eye out for further details.

This Autumn, our Destination Marketing team is running “OxFood Street” – a campaign celebrating the street's status as a foodie destination. Running from 2 September to 31 October, the team has been working closely with member businesses to offer visitors exclusive deals and expert guides to everything from the best date-night destinations to most “Instagram-able” restaurants. The campaign coincided with a strategic partnership with the London Restaurant Festival, which saw all five of our West End events sell out.

To celebrate the arrival of LOEWE's Fall Winter 2024 collection, the brand staged a flag takeover of Bond Street for the month of September. Spanning the length of Bond Street from Piccadilly to Oxford Street, the flags featured a key print from the FW24 collection, with botanical and floral motifs taking centre stage, abstracted from antique ceramics and wallpapers. 

SECURITY & OPERATIONS

We are delighted to share with members that, from 2 September, the West End has been served by a dedicated Town Centre Team (TCT) which will allow for more robust police resourcing across the district. A core aim of the TCT is to build stronger relationships with local stakeholders and the business community, with New West End Company acting as a key local partner. We have welcomed the early commitment from the team to close partnership working, and have a number of joint initiatives scheduled for the coming months.

As part of our ongoing focus on supporting business resilience across the West End, on 12 September we hosted a Crime Prevention Webinar in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service. During the session, attendees learned about the work police are doing as part of their “Look Up, Look Out” campaign, which aims to raise awareness of, and provide advice on, preventing street robberies. We also shared real world case studies and actionable tactics that customers, visitors and staff can implement immediately to aid with crime prevention. Click here to watch the webinar.

A new initiative from our Operations team is giving New West End Company staff insight into a “day-in-the-life” of our 24/7 Security team. Throughout September, New West End Company teams, from Finance to Partnerships, joined our Security team on their daily patrols. For many of our members and visitors to the district, our Security and Cleansing teams are the public face of the BID, and we know that the work they do is highly valued. The initiative has been a great success, and we are set to roll it out to our Cleansing teams in due course.

CAMPAIGNING AND ADVOCACY

On 17 September, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced plans to transform and revitalise Oxford Street through a new Mayoral Development Area encompassing Oxford Street and the surrounding streets. The proposal is backed by the new Labour Government and, through the creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), would give the Mayor planning powers to deliver a world-leading public realm scheme that works for residents, visitors and businesses. We look forward to working closely with the Mayor, Westminster City Council, our members, and local West End communities to realise this vision. Read a full statement from New West End Company Chief Executive, Dee Corsi, here, and her recent Evening Standard opinion piece on the announcement here.

Our Chief Executive, Dee Corsi, and Director of Communications and Campaigns, Nathan Parsad-Wyatt were pleased to attend the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Our focus was on ensuring that the key issues impacting the West End, including retail crime, sustainable development, and international visitor spending, were front and centre. Highlights included the New Statesman roundtable, where Dee Corsi joined industry leaders and the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Chris Bryant MP, to discuss how to unlock the £28 billion international visitor sector. 

New West End Company also attended a City of London corporation dinner where key issues impacting the capital were discussed with guest speaker Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Over a few productive days, the team participated in roundtable discussions on Town Centre Regeneration and Devolution Deals, engaging with key partners and senior politicians. The shared commitment to rebuilding Britain's high streets was evident throughout the conference.

Both Dee Corsi and Nathan Parsad-Wyatt were also in attendance at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, meeting with key local and national stakeholders and highlighting the policy objectives of New West End Company members.

Partnering with Knightsbridge and King's Road Partnership, New West End Company hosted a roundtable in Parliament with Cities of London & Westminster MP Rachel Blake, Chelsea & Fulham MP Ben Coleman, and Kensington & Bayswater MP Joe Powell. This was a great opportunity to discuss issues such as retail crime, anti-social behaviour, and the case for reinstating tax-free shopping. It was encouraging to see collaboration as a priority for the newly elected parliamentarians.

As we approach the Autumn Budget, New West End Company has submitted recommendations aimed at supporting the West End’s continued growth. Our key proposals include:

• Reforming business rates to create a fairer system.
• Reinstating tax-free shopping to attract international visitors and boost tourism.
• Addressing skills shortages and investing in adult skills training.
• Enhancing policing to ensure public safety.
• Reforming the planning system to unlock investment.

You can read our full submission here.

Earlier this summer, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, published a consultation on planned changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). We submitted our own response to the consultation, focusing on advocating for planning reforms that support economic growth. New West End Company is calling for the implementation of a reformed system, flexible enough to deal with the nuances of modern development projects and which situates a retrofit-first approach to sustainable development within the broader context of economic and social sustainability. You can view our full submission here.

The return of tax-free shopping remains a key campaigning ask for New West End Company. Recent research we conducted found that the value of unrealised sales in the West End, as a result of losing the policy, was £400m in 2023, and £220 in H1 2024. The story was broken by The Times, and picked up by a wide range of national and trade publications, including City A.M., Drapers and Retail Week. 

INSIGHTS

Following the launch of our Enhanced Insights Programme  - which provides all New West End Company members with an granular look at spend, forward flight, hotel occupancy, sentiment and mobility data – we held an interactive webinar on 18 September, showcasing the Programme’s functionality and key capabilities.

The session also included an exclusive preview our ongoing visitor survey, providing an in-depth analysis of West End visitors, from consumer behaviour insights to overall district sentiment. To schedule a 1:1 session with the Insights team to discuss the Programme, or to be taken through the dashboards and monthly reports, please contact Paddy Gamble, Head of Insights, at paddy.gamble@newwestend.com. Click the image below to watch the webinar.

We continue to commission research to better understand West End visitor origin, behaviours, perception and satisfaction, recently investing in more granular data gathering. This in-depth research will build upon historical survey data that has been collected by New West End Company since 2019 and be complemented and topped up with continuous, monthly consumer surveying throughout the year. The first of our two annual reports will be available on our Insights portal in early October. 

EVENTS

On 18 September, Dee Corsi, New West End Company’s Chief Executive, joined retail icon Mary Portas in a discussion about the future of U.K. high streets at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Retail Forum. The conversation was wide-ranging, with Dee and Mary discussing everything from the Mayor of London’s ambitious plans for Oxford Street, to the ever-evolving role of flagship retail. 

We were delighted to attend and participate in another successful London Real Estate Forum (LREF) this year, including the highly anticipated VIP reception held the National Portrait Gallery, co-sponsored by New West End Company and the Heart of London Business Alliance. Dee Corsi also took part in an insightful panel on the future of City Collaboration across the U.K., discussing how we can work with our regional counterparts to knowledge share, upskill our communities, and secure investment. She was joined by Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, Greater London Authority; Andrew McIntosh, Director of Place, Greater Manchester Combined Authority; Pam Smith, Chief Executive, Newcastle City Council; and Professor Greg Clark, Senior Advisor, NLA, who chaired the session.

We remain engaged in the development of the London Growth Plan, which seeks to create 150,000 high-quality, well-paid new jobs by 2028, with a particular focus on the Central Business District. Nathan Parsad-Wyatt, New West End Company’s Director of Communications and Campaigns, joined a BusinessLDN roundtable on the Plan, where he discussed key priorities for the West End with Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor of Business and Growth.

We recently attended several notable receptions, including a BusinessLDN event welcoming new London MPs, the Resident Society of Mayfair and St James’s summer party, and a Conservative Home evening reception. These events provided valuable opportunities to engage with decision-makers and ensure the West End’s priorities are discussed at every level. 

OTHER

We are delighted to welcome Moco Museum to Oxford Street West. The modern art gallery boasts an impressive collection of modern and contemporary art by genre-defining artists from Andy Warhol, Damien Hurst, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Banksy and much more. With the gallery’s Amsterdam and Barcelona locations already held in high regard by the art world, the London location is a fantastic addition to the world-class cultural attractions already present in the West End. 

To further support this year’s charity partner for Oxford Street’s festive lights, New West End Company took part in Great Ormond Street Hospital’s 100km challenge for September. Last month, as a team, we have run or walked the equivalent of 1,000 Oxford Streets! We are still raising money for our fantastic charity partner here, and all donations are gratefully received.