City Hall can help revive London’s ailing hospitality sector through a massive expansion of al fresco dining across the capital, Sir Sadiq Khan’s Deputy Mayor for Business has said.
By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
Credit: GLA
City Hall can help revive London’s ailing hospitality sector through a massive expansion of al fresco dining across the capital, Sir Sadiq Khan’s Deputy Mayor for Business has said.
Restaurants, pubs and bars have faced increases to National Insurance (NI) rates, a minimum wage uplift and most crucially, declining footfall and average spend compared with the pre-Covid pandemic period.
The Mayor of London is hoping to stem the tide with an extension and expansion of last year’s Summer Streets programme, however – with his Deputy Mayor for Culture saying that outdoor dining should become the “norm, not the exception” in future.
However, not every local authority who wanted a slice of the pie managed to get one – meaning cash-strapped councils may have to wait before rolling out their own schemes.
13 boroughs across the capital have received a share of around £500,000 to support businesses in setting up al fresco dining, as well as events and extended opening hours throughout summer.
This is a significant boost on last year’s inaugural programme, which saw streets in Lambeth, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Westminster trial the scheme.
Howard Dawber, Sir Sadiq’s Deputy Mayor for Business, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that demand from local authorities to take part outstripped the funding that City Hall ringfenced for the programme.
“This year is massively expanded – it has really caught the imagination,” he said.
“We’ve had some great summers – London’s coming alive.
“People come out onto the streets and enjoy, you know, the company of other Londoners.
“It is an opportunity is well to get onto the high streets, shop locally, go to your independent retailer, which for me is really important. We wish we could do more – we had a lot of people that wanted to do this.
“Pretty much every borough bid for it. We could have done a few more – hopefully we’ll be able to put some more funding together for future years as well.”
Mr Dawber was speaking at a colourful Summer Streets event outside Cha Sha restaurant on Ealing Road in Wembley, Brent.
Through the funding, the establishment has organised al fresco dining, live music and entertainment and partnered with local businesses throughout August.
“This is a really great example – they’ve taken that funding and they’ve built around it, engaging with lots local businesses,” the Deputy Mayor said.
“They’re all signed up to offer discounts and this has become a real celebration of the street, which is exactly what we wanted.
“So everybody’s buying into it, and it’s a lot more than just the al fresco. You know, celebration of the community of celebration of the street.
“We’ve put a lot more money into this year.
“This is where local authorities who need that little bit of funding to organise it – maybe it is literally barriers – [can get it].
“Some of the people who put in a really good bid, but we weren’t able to fund, have gone ahead anyway, they’ve gone and found sponsorship. The programme is really a catalyst that gets everybody thinking about what they can do and how they can use their streets and create new outdoor spaces.”
The success of this year’s scheme may prompt City Hall to provide further funding next year to revitalise the capital’s struggling high streets – but Mr Dawber said no decisions will be made until after the current programme concludes.
Those who were successful in obtaining funding could go on to do it themselves, he said, without needing any further financial help.
“Obviously, some of the things like barriers and anything physical, once they’re purchased, they can be used year on year,” he added.
“We haven’t made any commitments about next year yet, but it’s clearly been so popular this year.”
Asked about the struggles of London’s hospitality sector, Mr Dawber admitted circumstances had become tougher for many smaller businesses in the capital.
“Inflation and costs have gone up, rates and rents have been high,” he said.
“Although the footfall in a lot of places has recovered from COVID, the spend hasn’t necessarily recovered – so costs are still high. You might have a full restaurant, but the spend’s not as high as it once was.
“There’s a lot of things that are down to national government, to work on, and we’ve been, along with the business community, making representations to them.
“We’re determined to make London the best place to start and grow your business. We stand with businesses – it’s got to be a balance, and the government’s exactly right to balance the public finances as they did, but also to do things like lift in the minimum wage.”
Justine Simons, the Deputy Mayor for Culture, said City Hall were hoping that al fresco dining becomes “the norm, not the exception” in the near future.
She added: “Summer Streets is all about London expressing itself. You know, London is the most international city on the planet, and it is our greatest strength, our DNA, it’s the story we tell, and what everyone loves about the cit is the way in which it brings together people and cultures and ideas from all over the world.
“Summer Streets really exemplifies that story.
“This year is exponentially bigger than last year. What we learned last year was how successful it was. Footfall was up in some places by 85 per cent, and as a result this year, we’ve had loads of boroughs pitch loads and loads of great ideas.
“It’s been a really competitive scheme.
“In Brent alone, there’s 40 events under the banner of summer streets. Londoners love it. Businesses love it, communities love it. It’s a good thing. We want London to really be an al fresco city, for al fresco to be the norm, not the exception.
“Once it’s all over, we’ll be looking at the data, and we’ll want to go and see more stuff happening next year.”
However, the scheme has been criticised in recent weeks.
Alex Challoner, who was a prospective London mayoral candidate in 2024 for the Conservative Party, said it was “inadequate” and poorly funded.
He wrote on ConservativeHome: “Whilst the scheme is more generous than last year’s effort – with a budget of £500,000 rather than £300,000 – it is still small beer by City Hall standards. That’s barely more than the salary paid to three of the mayor’s deputies.
“Not only is the funding meagre, but its impact is also being further diluted by spreading it pretty thin.
“Sadiq Khan has a lamentable record when it comes to the capital’s hospitality sector.
“It will take more than a few picnic tables to wipe the memory of a decade of failure in office.”
