ANNUAL REPORT 2015

THE PAsT yEAR’s sUCCEssDespite 2015 proving to be a challenging year for town centres across the country, Kingston continues to rank fourth best performing retail centre in London and has moved up two places, since 2014, to fourteenth in the UK.* it has the highest occupancy rates in the UK and remains London’s safest borough.

in the past year, thanks to Kingston Futures, the town has experienced a surge of inward investment, not least £500m from the eden Walk and the old Post office plans.

Kingstonfirst introduced a Landowner Network for the purpose of consolidating opportunities for Kingston and collaborating on the need to keep Kingston open for business during the large developments over the next few years.

2015 was a landmark year for Kingstonfirst, with much success in addressing business priorities, to manage, promote and shape the town. the rest of the report will provide you with the highlights.

ros Morgan Chief executive

*Source: Javelin Venue Score 2016

A new destination focused brand was developed for the town, providing Kingston with a dynamic and sophisticated identity representative of its target audience. see www.visitkingston.co.uk

434K160K£5.8M70%217K

tWitter reACH FoLLoWiNg trAverse BLogger CoNFereNCe

MeDiA reACH For eAster tHUMBs UP it’s tHUrsDAy

iNCreMeNtAL sPeND DeLivereD By tHree sHoWCAse eveNts

MeDiA reACH For Love KiNgstoN DAy LANDs KiNgstoNFirst AWArD For Biggest soCiAL MeDiA iMPACt

ADDitioNAL DWeLL tiMe As A resULt oF eveNts iN KiNgstoN

MARKETING

MANAGING

Kingston’s award winning planting programme was recognised again in 2015, with Kingstonfirst receiving silver gilt at the annual awards. these high standards were reflected across all projects implemented during the year.

30%reDUCtioN iN BUsiNess CriMe ACHieveD viA KiNgstoN sAFer strAtegiC PArtNersHiP

160visitors WeLCoMeD By KiNgstoN’s triAge CeNtre over CHristMAs

£1.2M iNvesteD iN 12 NeW toWN CeNtre PoLiCe By KiNgstoN CoUNCiL AND tHe MAyor oF LoNDoN

100%LeD LigHtiNg iN KiNgstoN’s NeW CHristMAs LigHts For tHe toWN

7,060eNviroNMeNtAL issUes tACKLeD By tHe rANger teAM

82%LiCeNseD veNUes ACCreDiteD At Best BAr NoNe AWArDs

WINNERoF “Best sMALL oUtDoor MArKet” At tHe BritisH MArKet AWArDs

An impressive 47% of additional income was secured to supplement the BiD levy, providing an even greater direct return on investment for our members.

Kingstonfirst joined forces with the landowners and developers in the town as well as the council to lobby the treasury for sufficient finance to deliver Crossrail 2 into Kingston.

£856K oF BiD Levy MoNey reiNvesteD iN tHe toWN CeNtre

£764K oF ADDitioNAL NoN-Levy iNCoMe iNvesteD iN tHe toWN

10 Key Note sPeeCHes At NAtioNAL AND iNterNAtioNAL CoNFereNCes ProMotiNg KiNgstoN AND KiNgstoNFirst, iNCLUDiNg rePreseNtAtioN to tHe NeW MAyor oF LoNDoN

2,500 HoUrs oF sUPPort ProviDeD For WorK exPerieNCe AND joB CeNtre CLAiMANts

sHAPING

£217KtotAL sAviNgs seCUreD By BUsiNesses viA KiNgstoNFirst’s Cost sAviNgs sCHeMe

THE FUTURE 2016–2019Kingston over the next three years will see significant changes with regeneration plans coming forward. The following page highlights some of Kingstonfirst’s priorities for 2016.

Kingstonfirst’s vision is to continue to drive Kingston Town Centre forward to become a leading destination in the UK.

MAKING A GREAT TOWN GREATER

Priorities 2016

PROvIdE EvEN MORE OPPORTUNITIEs FOR bUsINEssEs TO sAvE MONEy ON CORE sERvICEs

INTROdUCE NEW TOWN CENTRE PERFORMANCE MEETINGs ANd REPORTs

ENsURE KINGsTON REMAINs OPEN FOR bUsINEss dURING FUTURE dEvElOPMENT

lAUNCH NEW WEbsITEs FOR vIsIT KINGsTON (WWW.vIsITKINGsTON.CO.UK) ANd KINGsTONFIRsT (WWW.KINGsTONFIRsT.CO.UK)

Add vIbRANCy TO KINGsTON TOWN CENTRE, THROUGH THE MARKETs ANd EvENTs PROGRAMME

For more information about Kingstonfirst, contact the team at:

Kingstonfirst 3rd Floor Neville House 55 eden street Kingston upon thames surrey Kt1 1BW

t +44 (0)20 8547 1221

info@kingstonfirst.co.uk

or visit kingstonfirst.co.uk to discover more

Kingstonfirst is the brand name for Kingston Town Centre Management Ltd Company Registered in England No. 3838618