Regeneration project: Bromley Town Centre

Bromley town centre has received £275,000 from Round One, and £2m from Round Two of the Mayor’s Outer London Fund, matched by £1.5m from the borough and £1.5 from TfL, to help maintain its position as a great destination in south London. A series of events have been organised to attract people onto the high street and create a new ‘Are You Bromley?’ brand. These are being followed by improvements to public spaces. Shop fronts are also being upgraded to promote the great range of small traders in the town. These projects benefit almost 500 businesses and are making Bromley a better place to live, work and visit.

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Hosting events

Bromley town centre is a popular shopping destination but aims to offer a wider range of activities to entice visitors and encourage them to stay. The Mayor’s funding is being used for an on-going programme of events to make Bromley a more attractive and lively place. It is also supporting ‘Are you Bromley?’, a local campaign which includes events like the High Street Garden festival, with an outdoor cinema, music and dance performances, craft workshops and activities for children. The event also displayed plans for Bromley’s future. Other events have included a visit from the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee, a sports festival and two popular ‘Santa Dash’ events.

Public spaces

Outer London Fund investment is improving public space around Market Square and Bromley Boulevard, designed by Studio Egret West. This includes redesigned shop fronts, new paving, planters, better drainage, more outside seating areas, Legible London way-finding signs and interactive town maps. A series of bold signs designed by Pie Architecture mark the north and south entrances to the town centre. Much needed seating is being installed at bus stops along the High Street and at the town entrance. The area around the station is also being made more welcoming. Pedestrian routes are being upgraded across the whole town centre, making walking around Bromley town centre more pleasant and increasing footfall to shops.

Building frontages

In Bromley North Village, the council is using funding to make a range of improvements to a large number of shop fronts. This includes upgrading signage and canopies, new vinyl window lettering, repainting and cleaning. A selected number of shop fronts are also being entirely replaced. This strategy, which has drawn in considerable match funding from the traders, is making a more coherent high street, with designs that are more sensitive to the attractive buildings in the North Village Conservation Area. The changes are helping to make Bromley a more appealing investment prospect in the long term.

Supporting business

A range of practical measures funded by the Mayor is supporting 30 independent businesses in Bromley. Free and subsidised training is being offered in partnership with local business forums based on needs expressed by traders. The advice on offer includes marketing, shop window design, merchandising and crime prevention. In addition, traders are being helped to take advantage of the broader ‘Are You Bromley?’ campaign and the marketing of specific areas of the town such as Bromley North Village.

Borough: Bromley

Partners/client: LB Bromley, TfL

Consultants: Studio Egret West, Pie Architecture, Objectif, Designed by Good People

Funding: Mayor of London £2.3m, LB Bromley £1.5m, TfL £1.5m