Over the last two years, the council has been meeting regularly with tenants of the Elephant and Castle through a forum called the Shopping Centre Liaison Group. In addition, several other meetings have been held with shop owners from the Walworth Road and the market traders. Throughout 2005 and beyond, the council will increase the number of meetings with local businesses and will try to reach as many as possible that will either be directly or partially affected by the regeneration plans.

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"This is the most exciting development opportunity in Europe. Improving a central London area on this scale will never happen again in our lifetime"
Norman Foster

Statement of local business support

Context

Southwark Council has embarked on a ten-year programme of regeneration in Elephant and Castle with the aim of improving both the quality of life for local residents and the business environment. This follows in the footsteps on the successful regeneration of Borough, Bankside and Peckham, and is managed alongside the council’s other regeneration programmes at Canada Water, Bermondsey and Aylesbury.

Extensive consultation undertaken with Southwark residents reveals that people like the area for its diversity and central location, but are frustrated with the run-down facilities, pollution and fear of crime.

These factors contribute to local residents spending 90% of their money outside Southwark. This directly affects local employment levels and inward investment, and has created a negative cycle resulting in local residents being among the poorest 10% in England. 

Local business context

Southwark Council wants to bolster and improve the trading environment for local businesses. At the same time we need to balance the evident demand from local people to have a much bigger and improved range of shopping and leisure facilities.

Businesses trading in Elephant and Castle reflect the area’s diverse cultural population and many have operated for years in a difficult trading environment.

Southwark wants these businesses to stay in the area and wants to support and assist them to continue trading through the transition to establish themselves in new, improved locations.

Support for local business

Southwark Council recognises that all regeneration proposals cause uncertainty. This is why we have been working with traders for the past two years to identify the best possible working arrangements to assist them during the period of change.

We have established the Shopping Centre Liaison Group as a consultative forum and through this we assist businesses with a free business review and free legal and surveyor advice.

The council’s wider commitment of support for local businesses is set out below:

1.The right regeneration model
Southwark rejected a developer-led ‘Bluewater’ model that favours national multiples. Instead an open-streets approach is being pursued that will be more able to nurture small/medium sized independent businesses.

2.Maintaining trade at the shopping centre from now until demolition
It is essential that businesses remain strong enough to continue their operations and are able to make a move into new premises when the opportunity arises, if they wish to do so. This requires the council, the shopping centre owners (St Modwen) and the individual businesses to work together to promote the centre.

It is also essential that St Modwen, as the landlord responsible for the tenants within the shopping centre, take every reasonable step to help businesses to trade successfully. This includes active management of the centre to ensure it remains full.

3.Assisting businesses to transfer to new premises
In a survey undertaken in July 2005, 70% of businesses stated that they are eager to remain trading in Elephant and Castle.

Southwark Council is using its position as a local planning authority to require all new commercial, mixed-use developments to offer a proportion of their units to existing businesses.

In addition there are many new schemes now under way in the area, which is a reflection of market confidence in the regeneration plans. The first of these schemes is scheduled to be finished in 2008, more than a year before the shopping centre is due to be vacant. Several other schemes are likely to be finished in time to allow a similiar transition for existing traders.

Southwark is seeking to impose a ‘stepped rents’ structure upon new developments in order to allow relocated businesses adequate time to adjust to their new trading environments.

In addition Southwark is establishing proposals for a council fund that help  businesses during the transition.

Finally, the council has set up Business Extra, a business support agency to support local businesses and has recently employed a specialist Business Regeneration Manager who will work with businesses on a one-on-one basis.

Conclusion

Southwark is committed to creating a diverse and successful local business economy that meets the needs of both residents and local traders.

As a local authority, Southwark wants local businesses to stay in the area and continue to serve the local population.

The regeneration programme will vastly improve the local environment and make it more clean, modern and attractive. Retail space within Elephant and Castle will increase six-fold and businesses in the area will be able to benefit from local people spending more of their money in the area.

 


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