Helen Robinson seems to be having trouble settling down to the meeting. As she moves around her minimalist, whitewashed office in the New West End Company, she is a blur of glossy platinum hair, stylish black trousers and designer jumper. Her attention is definitely not on the questions.
When she does answer halfway between replacing the cordless office phone on its cradle and signing a stack of papers it is to make a joke. Why did she decide to take the chief executive job? “Well, the money helps.”
With anyone else, this might be a ploy to demonstrate how busy and important he or she is. With Robinson, it does not come across like that. When she finally settles down she is composed and businesslike. And she has not missed a word.
“This is probably my last major job, and I wanted to do something to improve the city I greatly love,” she says. Robinson’s task is to revitalise the West End’s three famous shopping streets: Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street. As the last stop, it makes an impressive addition to an already stuffed CV.
Robinson started out more than 40 years ago as editor of Vogue. She spent 11 years as a director of Debenhams, and, in 1989, became a non-executive director at London Regional Transport and the British Airports Authority. Robinson was awarded an OBE in 1994 for services to transport and design, before being asked to head the West End’s voluntary business improvement district.
“I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t passionate about London, and was not equally concerned about what is happening compared with the good things happening in cities like Barcelona, Paris and New York,” she says.
No-nonsense approach
This attitude has probably helped her achieve what is regarded as something of a coup. In three years, Robinson has overseen the set-up of the only privately funded business improvement district in the UK one backed by five major property owners and six big name retailers.
Even on a shoestring budget of £1.6m pa, she vowed not to stand for “wishy-washy watered-down plans to scrimp money or save egos”. And she is about to deliver. Next month, the NWEC will unveil the master-plan for the revival of Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street.
An alliance with the Oxford Street Association has now been set up, a plan that could spread to encompass other street associations (see panel p103). And the introduction of vantage points podiums from where either a redcap street warden or policeman can overlook the crowds has proved highly effective at reducing petty crime.
But Robinson will probably be most sharply judged on her success in achieving formal BID status for the area when they come into operation next year. She admits she has her critics here. “Some people are saying ‘aren’t you being too ambitious, isn’t the district too big?’ I’d say it needs to be that big to spend the money we need to do something meaningful and important, something with impact.”
As she sips a herbal tea in her stylish office, Robinson explains how achieving formal BID status next year will be crucial to carry on the aspirations initially set out by Land Securities’ Ian Dransfield and Vittorio Radice, formerly chief executive at Selfridges.
“I use the jewellery analogy,” she says. “If you have a good diamond you don’t let it be seen in a dirty setting. That diamond could be a store or a street or anything, and unless the setting is world class and everyone contributes in a fair way, it is not going to shine.”
Government BID policy was passed through the House of Lords in September last year and will be voted on by the local areas in January 2005. The aim is for NWEC to become a fully fledged BID by that April. “BID is a means of achieving the aims for the district, and that is why it is so important we get the ‘yes’ vote,” she explains.
However, the government’s decision to put the onus for funding these initiatives on occupiers and local authorities, leaving landlords out in the cold, was a big blow for the NWEC. As one of the only privately funded city-centre partnerships, NWEC receives 70% of its funding from local landlords, with retailers providing the balance.
The legislation allows for voluntary contributions but does not give landlords voting rights. “It is ridiculous and unfair,” she says. “Landlords have indicated they will contribute, but we can’t expect them to do that if they then have no say in how the money is spent.”
As a result, Robinson has sought legal advice. She is now adjusting NWEC’s constitution so that landlords will be allowed to sit on the BID board. But this is far from satisfactory, says Robinson, because landlords will still be barred from voting. Heavy lobbying will continue with a view to enacting changes in the legislation during the government’s 2007 review.
Without the involvement of property companies, Robinson could find it difficult to secure backing from occupiers. She explains that retailers have found it difficult to understand that contributing to a BID is to their advantage. This is at odds with the attitude of mall-based retailers toward paying service charges, she says. “They do not think twice about paying this.”
One bone of contention is high levels of business rates. Pointing to the £342m pa collected from the three streets, Robinson says only roughly 6% comes back to the area. “And they don’t necessarily spend it in our streets.”
But with retailers lining up behind health and education for a piece of the Budget, jumping the queue could be hard. “The three streets are the goose laying a lot of golden eggs right now, for London as well as for the government to spend in other parts of the country,”she says.
Competing worldwide
Problems such as these have affected London’s ability to compete worldwide. In contrast, Robinson points to Paris and New York. “The Paris mayor has gigantic amounts of money because central government sees the city as the important engine to drive the rest of France, and New York has five boroughs and a mayor with clout.”
It is not only international competition that bothers her. Pointing to the transformation of Glasgow and the regeneration schemes in Bristol and Birmingham, she says: “These are yet more reasons why we have to get our act together and do something. We have competitors fast on our heels.”
The masterplan will go some way to help this. The two-year project, costing around £500,000 nearly one-third of the NWEC’s annual budget will go to public consultation in April. Once approved, it will provide a blueprint for the three streets, including “radical” changes to a raft of issues, from transport and traffic management right down to lighting and street furniture.
It will also provide a manual of best practice for developers looking to provide public facilities. “But it certainly isn’t going to allow us to spend billions immediately on doing all those things that require attention,” Robinson adds quickly.
The project will also define markets for different sections of the streets. Robinson refers to the east of Oxford Circus: “We are exploring who it should be for, and what the fascias should be and how we should handle the hinterland and the food offering.”
This will go some way to providing a more unified look to the area. Although Robinson admits that there will never be single ownership along any section of the area, she believes that, through gentle persuasion, some common policies can be established.She also talks of creating a limited partnership for Oxford Street property.
“The benefits are quite clear to me,” she says. “It would allow us to see the project as a totality. If that meant someone took a short-term hit to achieve a better future then maybe that hit could be spread.” In reality, however, Robinson admits that setting up such a scheme would be difficult.
Robinson faces a number of milestones. And there is no doubt that those with a vested interest in the West End will be watching her closely. Robinson seems unconcerned. “The board deserves a lot of credit for funding the operation, and I wouldn’t want to see that taken away. But I’m not about saving egos. I don’t really care about me or anyone very much as long as we produce something wonderful for London.”
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2001 Chief executive, New West End Company |
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1999-2001 Managing directorof the Helen Robinson Organisation |
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1996-98 Director, Asprey Group |
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1988-93 Group managing director, Thomas Goode & Company |
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1986-88 Director Condé Nast Publications |
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1975-86 Director, Debenhams |
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1960-1975 Executive editor, Vogue |
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Non-executive posts |
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1989-95 Non-executive directorships at London Electricity Board, London Regional Transport and British Airports Authority |
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Fellowships at Royal College of Art, Commonwealth Institute, London Business School, Chartered Society of Designers, and Royal Society of Arts |
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1994 Awarded OBE for services to transport and design |
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Directors |
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Debenhams, Derwent Valley, Grosvenor, House of Fraser, John Lewis Partnership, Land Securities, Legal & General Group, Marks & Spencer, Prudential Life Assurance, Selfridges, The Crown Estate, Robert Davis (chief whip Westminster council), London First |
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Observers |
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Bond Street Association, British Hospitality Association, Greater London Authority, Metropolitan Police, Oxford Street Association, Regent Street Association, Westminster Property Owners Association, Central London Partnership, Westminster council |
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New West End Company and the Oxford Street Association announced an alliance at the start of this year. They have since begun working more closely together, and Sally Humphreys, Oxford Street Association director, has already moved into NWEC’s offices in Panton Street, SW1. |
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“It has been a thankless task working as director because of the number of freeloaders and a tight budget,” says Humphreys. “It made sense for us to work together for the BID.” |
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The Oxford Street Association will be retained until formal BID status is achieved, explains Humphreys. This is because members are already familiar with the organisation. But given a “yes” vote for the BID, Humphreys says it makes “absolute sense” to roll the organisations into one. |
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Similar plans for both the Regent Street Association and that for Bond Street remain tentative. Helen Robinson, head of the NWEC, explains: “As usual, Oxford Street is paving the way, but we will continue to work very closely with the others.” |
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After BID status is attained, the NWEC will act as an umbrella organisation, but each street will have a champion. Both Humphreys and Robinson are keen to make sure they do not create a monotone identity for the area. “The streets need their individuality we don’t want to lose any of that focus,” says Robinson. |
