A Business Improvement District for Stockwell?

Local Councillors have asked Council officers to investigate whether a Business Improvement District (BID) would be feasible in Stockwell and Oval to bring together the business community and the improvements that other town centres have witnessed. A draft map of where the BID might operate has been drawn up here.

A BID is an organisation run by local businesses for the benefit of the neighbourhood which businesses pay a small levy to fund every year. Very small businesses are excluded. In Lambeth there are currently seven BIDs, our residents will probably be most familiar with Vauxhall One who have installed new bins and hanging baskets, provided their own jet washing and street cleaning of the arches and town centre streets as well as supporting individual businesses with cheaper bills for things like energy and rubbish collection. 

Vauxhall One has also hired dedicated police officers to keep Vauxhall safe and invested in improvements like the pedestrianisation and improvements to part of Vauxhall Walk. There is loads more like the summer screenings in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and the Vauxhall Ice Rink. Have a look at their website to see more about what they do.

Council officers will be assessing whether there are enough businesses in the Stockwell area to make an organisation financially viable (BIDs need a basic amount in order to effectively function over a neighbourhood) and what the area around Stockwell town centre would make sense for the business community. Once that information is back we’ll see how best we can take this forward. To keep up with the campaign, please follow @StockwellOval.