We’re halfway through the year, which always feels like a moment to take stock, and this past quarter there has been a lot to feel good about on the King’s Road.
I’m proud to share our latest update covering everything from the performance of our street team, saving more businesses money through our cost-reduction and new professional photography services, we’re making sure the King’s Road remains competitive on the national and international stage.
Our street team is working harder than ever for you. Since February, the team has assisted with 317 incidents, recovering £25.7k worth of stock and personal belongings from 49 member businesses. Additionally, we co-hosted a Safer Business Action Day in March, held in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, RBKC and Safer Business Network, where three shoplifters were arrested, eight live investigations were supported, and 15 businesses received hands-on cyber resilience training. We have also been sharing intelligence with the Metropolitan Police as part of Operation Snakehead, a dedicated operation targeting the emerging trend of bulk retail theft in our district. Our collaborative efforts continue to make a tangible difference as we aim to maintain a safe and secure environment for businesses, residents and visitors alike.
Our members are saving more through the Cost Reduction Scheme. Total savings have now reached £1.4million. This equates to an average of £31,823 per participating business. This quarter alone members saved £162,312, and we have extended the scheme to include commercial cleaning, adding a further £74,700 in savings to date.
In March, we launched the inaugural TRI Design festival, led by the Knightsbridge Partnership, a free, four-day celebration of interiors and design across King’s Road and Knightsbridge. Every event sold out with a week to go. We are already surveying participants and visitors ahead of growing the festival in 2027 and exploring sponsorship and media partners to expand its reach.
Recently, we were pleased to provide three independent businesses on the King’s Road with a £2,500 grant to bring their ‘Out of this World’ Chelsea in Bloom ideas to life. Congratulations to our winners La Mia Mamma, Piazza Castello and The Eye Establishment for their winning submissions who were chosen by an independent panel of judges.
Looking ahead to late-summer, we are launching Plated, a new food festival running throughout August across King’s Road and Knightsbridge, designed specifically to drive footfall and revenue during what has historically been a quieter trading month. We would encourage all food and drink operators to get in touch if you haven’t already registered your interest in participating in this exciting campaign by emailing marketing@kingsrdpartnership.com.
We have also launched a free professional photography service for members, providing short ‘mini shoots’ to help businesses refresh their social media, website and digital content. Following a successful pilot with a small number of independent businesses, and overwhelmingly positive feedback, the service is now running quarterly. If you would like to find out more and take part in the next round, please get in touch with elaina@kingsrdpartnership.com.
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 King’s Road businesses are well represented.
Finally, I want to say a personal thank you to all members who have already engaged with our team ahead of the upcoming BID renewal ballot, which runs from late August through to the end of September. Businesses will have the opportunity to vote for the King’s Road Partnership to continue delivering impactful services for another five years, and the appetite we are seeing from across the membership gives us real confidence. Your support means everything to us.
I would encourage members to join us at our Business Plan Showcase coming up very soon on Tuesday 7th July at the Chelsea Theatre. You can even hitch a ride to the event on a classic route master bus. To register your attendance and let us know if you’ll be using complimentary transport, email rsvp@kingsrdpartnership.com.
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.
Steven Medway
Chief Executive
King’s Road Partnership
