Wow where has this year gone! Summer is now upon us and, as expected, the lead up has been a busy and exciting first half for us here at the Knightsbridge Partnership.
A lot has been happening — across safety and sustainability, footfall, our public realm scheme, and some new initiatives we’re excited to share. Here’s the roundup, plus a look at what’s coming next.
A landmark for sustainability in Knightsbridge. In May, we formally launched the first-ever Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan for Knightsbridge at the Bvlgari Hotel. This is not just a policy document; it is a practical framework comprising 60 SMART actions that businesses and stakeholders across the district can begin implementing immediately. Find more information about the strategy and download the full document here.
The seven priority themes span retrofit acceleration, circular economy infrastructure, biodiversity, water conservation, sustainable transport, health and wellbeing, and social inclusion. We were pleased to welcome Mete Coban MBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy, to the launch event alongside senior leaders from multiple businesses across Knightsbridge and the wider London area.
The Knightsbridge Place and Public Realm Strategy is progressing well. Design development is advancing through RIBA Stage 3, with traffic modelling outputs indicating the proposed scheme will improve general traffic and bus journey times, reduce road casualties, and improving pedestrian experience. Community engagement will continue with the next drop-in session planned for September. You can find out more about our ambitious plans at www.reimaginingknightsbridge.com
Our street team is delivering results. Since March, the team has assisted with 584 incidents, recovering £13.5k of stolen stock and personal items, resulting is over £250k of stock and personal items recovered since 2021. In March, we hosted a Safer Business Action Day alongside the Metropolitan Police, Safer Business Network, RBKC and My Local Bobby, with four live investigations supported and valuable intelligence secured to pursue prosecution. We have also been invited by MOPAC and the Metropolitan Police to participate in their new Command Fusion Cell, a significant recognition of the intelligence we are generating for the district.
In March, we launched the inaugural TRI Design festival, a free, four-day celebration of interiors and design across Knightsbridge and the King’s Road. Every event sold out with a week to go – a testament to the appetite for a design-led event in Knightsbridge. We are already surveying participants and visitors ahead of growing the festival in 2027 and exploring ways we can expand the festival’s reach.
Our digital presence continues to grow steadily. Our consumer Instagram channel has now reached 38,000 followers, up 7% this quarter and 111% year on year. Our TikTok channel, launched only in October of last year, has now accumulated over 1.3m views, with 823k views and 28.8k engagements in this quarter alone, a 79% increase on the previous period.
The Knightsbridge Edit has now moved fully in-house, with web page views up 9.4% and average engagement time up 36.5%. Finally, the Knightsbridge Club now has more than 3.4k members, up 77% in a single quarter, with 45 or more participating businesses with new offers from Harvey Nichols, E-Pulsive and Hawksmoor to name just a few this quarter. If you’re interested in having your business featured, you can now contact marketing@knightsbridgepartnership.com.
Our members are saving more through the Cost Reduction Scheme. Total savings have now reached £1.4m, with £35.4k added this quarter and an average saving of £34.8k per participating business. The scheme has recently expanded to include commercial cleaning through our collaboration with Walkers, adding a further £74.7k in savings to date.
Coming this summer: Plated. Running throughout August, our new food festival, a joint initiative between the Knightsbridge Partnership and King’s Road Partnership, will bring together the best of the district’s food and drink scene in a month-long celebration designed to drive footfall and boost revenue during what has historically been a quieter trading period. If you’re a food or drink operator and haven’t yet registered your interest, please do get in touch with marketing@knightsbridgepartnership.com to register your interest and learn more.
On the policy front, we continue to work alongside Cadogan, Heathrow and New West End Company to build the case for alternative measures to support international spending, including VAT-free shopping, with our formal research programme now entering its concluding stages. We will share more on this as soon as we can.
We are also actively engaging with the Government’s consultation on a proposed Overnight Visitor Levy to ensure the interests of Knightsbridge businesses are well represented.
Thank you to those who joined us at the launch of our Business Plan realising your vision for Knightsbridge over the next five-year plan at Paradox Museum earlier this week. It was brilliant to see such a positive response. You can download a copy of the Business Plan and watch our campaign video here. I encourage you to book in a meeting with the team to explore we can support your business in the next five years.
Additionally, as part of our BID Renewal process, the voter canvass runs through June and July. Please look out for an email and/or letter from Civica on or around 30th June, asking you to verify your voting details. This is how we compile the official voter list for the ballot, which takes place across August and September.
Finally, this week we launched The Knightsbridge Partnership App which has been built exclusively for the Knightsbridge business community. The App enables our members to connect more easily with fellow businesses, stay up to date with what’s happening locally and get faster access to our services and support, all in one place. The Knightsbridge Partnership App can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
If you have any questions about anything mentioned in this update, or about the renewal process, mine and the team’s inboxes are always open.
Best wishes,
Steven Medway
Chief Executive
Knightsbridge Partnership
