Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill have been successful in the 2nd round bid for Portas Pilot funding

We received the call yesterday and we’re all really excited about initiating our planned projects.

Key elements of the bid were:

1. Jack and Jill Community Hubs

2. The Shop Revolution

This is the idea that has been evolved by Bake with members of the Empty Shops Group, now known as The Shop Revolution.

12 vacant units renovated and let to an eclectic mix of businesses and organisations as part of large scale pop up project over one month. The aim is to reposition the high streets as a destination for the duration of the project, showcase ideas for using empty shops and to act as a springboard for new businesses.

3. Market Makers

An initiative to develop a range of markets across Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill with subsidy and incentives for stall-holders.

What Now?

If you’d like to be involved, find out more or become a member of the Town Team let us know.  We’ll forward your details on to the appropriate folks.

We are very excited to be working with some great Forest Hill businesses

On The Hoof

On The Hoof opened their first coffee kiosk at the front of Forest Hill station in 2001.  They have expanded over the last year, opening a second kiosk at Forest Hill on the London bound platform, and a third outlet at Sydenham station main entrance.  On The Hoof sell Monmouth coffee and a range of pastries and sandwiches for which the suppliers and ingredients have been locally sourced.

While Designed by Good People have developed a fabulous new brand based on vintage railway signs, we have been working with On The Hoof to develop their social media presence, and design a number of campaigns to raise awareness of their coffee stations and their new brand.

Follow their activities on:
Facebook
Twitter

And stop by at one of their coffee stations for some AMAZING coffee!
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Stag and Bow

Stag and Bow opened on Dartmouth Road in December 2010 and have gone from strength to strength with their shop, offering a range of high end haberdashery items, homewares, clothing and have developed a calendar of workshops and events that capitalise on their expertise as designer makers.

They are now in the process of developing some exciting new services and product ranges.  Bake are working with Stag and Bow to help them manage their product portfolio, ensuring they maximise their opportunities via some rigorous marketing planning.

So we submitted our 2nd round bid for Portas Pilot funding by Friday’s deadline.  This time around the GLA are allocating £300k to London towns, so with 33 London boroughs we feel as though we’re in with a good chance.

We feel this one is a much stronger contender too, with the inclusion of proposed initiatives that have been evolved and will go ahead with or without this funding.

The main elements of this new bid are:

1. Jack and Jill

2. The Shop Revolution

This is the idea that has been evolved by Bake with members of the Empty Shops Group, now known as The Shop Revolution.

12 vacant units renovated and let to an eclectic mix of businesses and organisations as part of large scale pop up project over one month. The aim is to reposition the high streets as a destination for the duration of the project, showcase ideas for using empty shops and to act as a springboard for new businesses.

3. Market Makers

An initiative to develop a range of markets across Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill with subsidy and incentives for stalls.

You can see the bid video here:

We should hear by the end of July if our new bid was successful.  In the meantime we will continue to develop the Town Team and work on bringing our initiatives to fruition.

If you are interested in being involved in any of these initiatives or becoming a member of the Town Team you can drop me an email.

Louise Brooks
Shop Revolutionary

We had another great event on 28 June. You can see photos here.  The next event will be held in September. Contact us if you’d like more information.

Networking for Local Talent

6.30pm – 9.00pm
At Grow Mayow Community Garden, Mayow Park, Mayow Road SE26 4JA

Informal networking for local businesses, entrepreneurs, freelancers and creative folk. Put names to faces, meet local businesses and pursue business opportunities over a drink and a bite.

For the summer event we are holding a garden party at the award winning Grow Mayow Community Garden in Mayow Park, Sydenham. Indulge in a summer tipple and pizza baked in the hand made clay oven along with other nibbles. And we have beautifully decorated, rather rustic sheds to shelter in if the weather doesn’t hold out.

£8.00 per person will be payable at the event.

Secure your place via Eventbrite. 

See the photos from the May event on the Bake Facebook page.

We received the news on Saturday that the Forest Hill, Kirkdale and Sydenham combined bid to be a Portas Pilot Town wasn’t successful during the first round of bidding.  The good news is that there will be a second round for a further 12 Portas Pilot Towns, with bids to be submitted by 30 June.

While the bid failure is a disappointment, simply being involved in the process has spurred each of the high streets involved in our bid into action and Bake are doing all that we can to aid efforts.  We are not only consulting with each of the traders groups but we are also responsible for driving some exciting initiatives:

We have set up an Empty Shops Group

Along with Lee Newham of Designed by Good People we have set up an Empty Shops Group, with the first meeting taking place on 12 June.  Loosely at this stage the aims of the group are:

• To identify and engage landlords.
• To come up with a range of ideas to bring empty ideas into use from temporary arts related projects to initiatives that will encourage new businesses to take up the empty units.
• To work with the local authorities and traders to put pressure on landlords to accept meanwhile uses for shops while they remain empty.

If you are interested in being part of this group or learning more about this initiative you can email me.

Louise is leading the Marketing Committee for Kirkdale Village

Kirkdale Village has created a Traders and Community Group. The following committees have been created to drive a variety of activities: Green Fingers, Marketing, Events, Arts and Fundraising.  Louise will be leading the Marketing Committee. Along with the fundamental activities required to raise the profile of the high street and promote events and initiatives, the group aims to get creative in bringing the community and the high street together.

Bake Support Street Art

We feel that street art is a great way to generate interest in a neglected high street.  We am encouraging each of the traders groups to incorporate street art into their vision and we are engaging with local artists and some high profile street artists in the hope that we will see some exciting work in our South East London high streets very soon.

If you would like to hear more about the high street regeneration initiatives that Bake are involved in you can drop us an email at hello@bakelondon.co.uk.

After a cracking start to the local networking group at Canvas and Cream in Forest Hill in March, we have another date for your diary. The next networking event will be held on 9 May at the Sylvan Post on Dartmouth Road from 6.30pm – 9.00pm.  See it on a map.  The event costs £7 which will entitle you to one drink of your choice.

You can see all the photos from the event on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bakelondon. ‘Like’ the page to be kept abreast of events as they are announced and find out what else Bake is up to.

My vision for this networking group is for it to become a regular event that brings together local entrepreneurs, creatives, small businesses, freelancers, movers and shakers, and those that simply want to engage with local business folk. Its an opportunity to generate business, foster collaborative relationships and learn about initiatives that might be of interest to us.

This is my vision. Tell me what you’d like to see at these events.

Louise

Take a look at the Forest Hill, Sydenham & Kirkdale Village bid for the Portas Pilot Fund.  Please support our bid by viewing the video and liking it.  The more support we get the better our opportunity of being selected as one of the Pilot Towns.  Selected towns will be announced in May.

The Portas Pilot fund for those that don’t know is a fund of £1m that the government are going to allocate to 12 towns across the UK at a maximum of £100k per town.  The towns will form part of a pilot scheme implementing the recommendations made in the Portas Review, an independent review of failing high streets carried out by high street guru Mary Portas and published in December.

In the video you will see me speak about my intention to open a pop up shop in the area.  For some time I have been interested in high street regeneration and specifically how to bring empty shops back into use.

The Pop Up Shop Project

My proposed initiative is to renovate a unit that currently stands empty and let it out to a variety of carefully selected retailers on a weekly basis.  The retailers should appeal to the local demographic and should be complementary to existing businesses. When it isn’t being let to retailers I’d like to make it available to arts organisations at a subsidised rate.

A major part Bake will play will be to market the pop up shop so as to create a buzz around the project and to generate footfall which will benefit the tenants and the locality.  The initiative will offer income to the landlord at a notoriously difficult time to let units, and provide an opportunity for retailers to test the high street shop format.  As there is a high amount of interest in pop up shops at the moment there will also be a lot of press coverage which will be beneficial to both the landlord in terms of future rental opportunities and of course to tenants.

This project will be a ‘pilot’ scheme for Bake, and if it proves to be successful we intend to roll the model out to other empty units across South London.

I am interested in speaking with both landlords in Forest Hill and Kirkdale Village, and to possible tenants so please do get in touch if you’d like to find out more information.

Louise

We’d love to hear from you so feel free to pick up the phone and call Louise Brooks on 07949 131819, or drop us an email.

We had a great initial event Wednesday 28th March.  We will be holding our next event on 9 May at the Sylvan Post on Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill.  Details to follow.

My vision for this networking group is for it to become a regular event that brings together local entrepreneurs, creatives, small businesses, freelancers, movers and shakers, and those that simply want to engage with local business folk. Its an opportunity to generate business, foster collaborative relationships and learn about initiatives that might be of interest to us.

This is my vision. Tell me what you’d like to see at future events.

Louise

March Event Photos

Bake are hosting the Marketing component of this workshop, with business training specialists Faculty One running the event.  The aim of this course is to provide SMEs with the essential tools and knowledge required for business success. The workshop comprises 3 sessions: Finance, Marketing and Presentation Skills.

Lunch and refreshments will be included.

Date: Tuesday 24th April 2012
Location: O2 Business Hub, Tottenham Court Road W1
Time: 9.30am – 5.00pm
Cost: £120

BOOK ONLINE TODAY

COURSE DETAILS

Session One:
Critical Financial Skills
Hosted by Deborah Morton-Dare, Faculty One Trainer 
Do you have the financial understanding and skills which mean the difference between success and failure? Many businesses that are failing today or not achieving their full potential could have a very different outcome if the management understand a few key financial concepts.

Making profit is not good enough

• Understand the difference between profits and cash – the commonest cause of failure is lack of cash, not lack of sales or profits. Indeed success can be a cause of lack of cash.
• Understand the interaction of profits, cashflow and funding in the success of your business
• Understand financial jargon and the important messages to get from your accounts/accountant and what questions should you be asking and why?

 Management reporting within the business

• Does yours drive the implementation of your strategy and the success of your business? Or is it just an exercise for the accountants?
• Do you clearly identify your KPI’s and report on whether you have succeeded in achieving them
• Does your reporting cause you to make decisions and take action?
• Is it just an historic exercise or is it an essential tool in the future success of your business?

• Are you the best advert for your business? When investors and customers make decisions they choose to invest in the person as well as the business.
• Are you making the right impression each and every time you meet investors and clients? Are you confident in your ability to sell yourself and so sell your business and services?

Remember it is not what you say it is how you say it. Your body language, tone and posture all play apart in how your message is heard by the person you are communicating with.This session will help you understand how you can sell yourself and communicate more effectively to your customers.

• You will understand the importance of positive body language.
• You will create and practise your individual message so you can speak about your business with passion and enthusiasm – ready for that next networking session and business meeting.

Session 3:
Marketing Your Business
Hosted by Louise Brooks, Marketing Consultant @ Bake
Many businesses know they need to market their business and how important it is. How do you know that you are using the best marketing tools and strategies to promote your business services?

• How do you let your customers know about you and your services?
• Are your customers shouting about the service you deliver?
• Are you delivering the objectives of your marketing plan?
• Confused by social media & how to make it effective for your business?

This session will:

• Explain the importance of having a working marketing plan and how to implement it effectively.
• Explain how to identify target customers clearly to focus on ROI, and how to choose the right market for you and your individual service.
• Explore new ways to market your business and get others to market you. You will be shown the benefits of Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.