Craig Hurring provided an update on the work of Love Wimbledon, the Business Improvement District for Wimbledon town centre. The slides from his presentation are attached to this report.

The Time and Leisure Food and Culture awards for Southwest London took place on 18 March and Wimbledon had five overall winners, with 12 others highly commended.

Footfall in Wimbledon in 2023 has increased by 16.4% compared to 2022 and is higher than pre-pandemic levels. Whilst footfall across London and nationally is down, Wimbledon has bucked these trends. This is possibly due to the doughnut effect of more people working from home in the borough but holding events has helped. Tracking Mastercard transactions also shows that spend was higher in 2023 than in previous six years, for both weekday and weekends. Even allowing for changes in cash use this is a positive sign. Increased footfall is across all days, especially when the market is on.

Love Wimbledon’s Ranger service checks for issues like littering, fly-tipping, graffiti. Over 3000 incidents were reported in 2023 and resolved either by Love Wimbledon, London Borough Merton or others.

Love Wimbledon continues to provide support to businesses through networking, training, and information events. Street markets have returned on the first weekend of every month. Love Wimbledon is also testing potential new vendors. Big screen tennis will be back for the tennis but there will be a wider summer of sport including the Olympics and the Tour De France. Sustainable Summer event last year went well and will return this year. Love Wimbledon is also planning for the Winterfest event, and it will once again be on Queens Road. There will be an Evolving Wimbledon conference on 1 October.

The Wilko site is currently under offer. Two new businesses have opened at 27 Broadway, a gym and Korean supermarket. Two new businesses are opening in Wimbledon Quarter including children’s soft play and Huddle co-worker hub opens June 2024. At 247 Broadway the office premises are nearly finished, and Love Wimbledon supporting the developer to find new tenants.

A residents asked about plans for a concert hall behind Morrisons. Craig said that the organisation developing the hall were given two years to come up with a viable business plan by London Borough of Merton. Cllr Kohler confirmed that the Council was supportive of the hall, but it would need to be commercially viable. Craig said that there also other existing venues for smaller music events.

A resident said that on Wimbledon Hill one side of the road was full of successful shops and restaurants, but the other side is empty. Craig said that there is a plan for the bank building to be converted to an apartment hotel, and we are waiting for developer to start work. Love Wimbledon continues to look for other businesses to move into other sites and a plan is being submitted for the San Lorenzo site.

A resident said that holding the Winterfest on Queens Road meant that the Broadway and wider town centre was too quiet. Craig said he would be working with Wimbledon Quarter to address this.