Old Kent Road Employment Study March 2016 The Old Kent Road Employment Study is an employment study jointly prepared by the London Borough of Southwark and the Greater London Authority’s Regeneration Team Copyright Base Maps © Crown Copyright and database right 2014. Ordnance Survey 100032216 GLA Project team Acknowledgements Tim Cutts, Paul Harper, Tina Jadav, Alex Marsh and Barbara-Ann Overwater All the guest researchers who gave their time to help with the initial survey work Guest researchers Tom Weaver, Tom Buttrick, Nick Wolff, Participants in the Old Kent Road Natalie Ntim, Philip Waters, George Community Forum, whose invaluable local Mitzalis, Kate Johnson, Susannah Pettit, knowledge and helpful feedback shaped Kevin Dykes, Ambrose Omoma and the report into a more accurate and user Suley Muhidin friendly document Drawings by Tina Jadav, Alex Marsh, and Edmund Bird for his comments and Alison Mayer historical insight All surveys were completed in autumn All the businesses that gave their time to 2014 and spring 2015. participate in the creation of this study Content Introduction 3 Historical context 4 Current context 6 Methodology 11 Analysis 13 Site types 19 Case Studies 24 Business aspirations 43 Next steps 45 Weber Industries are an arts fabrication firm based on Haymerle Road. They have been commissioned for a huge variety of projects with past clients ranging from large retailers to well know fine artists Introduction The Old Kent Road is a historic London Together with the Greater London Au- detailed understanding of what currently high street made iconic by its position as thority, Southwark Council are preparing exists in the area, an indispensable part the lowest value property on the Monop- a new plan for the Old Kent Road and of any plan making process. The plan will oly board. Stretching across the borough surrounding area. The Old Kent Road guide and manage new development and of Southwark and into Lewisham, the growth in the area over the next 15 years, road is a defining feature of a number of and will look to bring about improve- areas ranging from historic high streets The study is both ments to the quality of the environment to sprawling retail parks, modern indus- along the road, reducing pollution and trial estates to densely packed warehouse an important noise, as well as unlocking central Lon- units, Victorian terraces to post-war don sites for potential growth. Plans to housing estates. baseline for future extend the Bakerloo Line along the Old Kent Road would be a key factor in driv- Tucked away within these diverse urban plan making, and ing these changes. The Old Kent Road forms are a huge variety of businesses Employment Study will be one of the first about which relatively little was known. a celebration of outputs of the evidence collection stage. This study aims to shed some light on It will form part of a suite of studies fo- the types of businesses that make up the businesses’ cussing on the Old Kent Road area, which the economy of the Old Kent Road. It together will form an important and rich provides a snapshot in time of the overall contribution to the resource to guide a placemaking strategy distribution of different types of busi- for this important part of London. nesses and jobs in the area, along with a local and wider- number of detailed profiles of individual businesses. By combining robust quan- London economy. titative analysis with a more qualitative approach to understanding the business- es, this study is both a baseline for future area has the potential to support signifi- plan making, and a celebration of the cant housing and business growth, which businesses’ contribution to the unique could lead to significant changes in the character of the Old Kent Road, as well as area. This study is an important first step the local and wider London economy. in developing a robust evidence base and Historical context The Old Kent Road has a long history opened by the South Eastern Railway in last tram ran down the Old Kent Road dating back to Roman times, when it 1844 at the northern end of the Old Kent in 1952, making way for the increasing formed part of Watling Street, the Roman Road close to the foot of the fly-over of volumes of vehicular traffic brought on Road that linked Dover in the south east the same name built in the 1960s), on a by the popularisation of the private mo- of England with Wroxeter in Shropshire. short branch from their mainline because torcar. The road fell into disrepair following the the company wished to avoid exces- departure of the Romans from England, sive charges at London Bridge station. In the post war period, housing estates but was later used during medieval times However its site proved so inconvenient and retail warehouse sheds with large by pilgrims travelling to the shrine of to passengers that regular passenger expanses of car parking replaced the Becket at Canterbury Cathedral in Geof- services ceased in 1852 and the station tighter urban fabric on and off the road. frey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The was converted into a goods depot and Despite this decline the road had a suc- pilgrims were said to have stopped at a carriage sidings. The goods yard closed cessful evening economy well into the stream on the Old Kent Road at a place in 1962. The site of the depot was rede- early 1990s, with young people using the known as St Thomas a Watering, where veloped in the 1990s as a light industrial area as a place to meet and socialise. the Thomas a Becket public house is estate served by Mandela Way. These included the (in)famous Ambu- now situated on the corner of Old Kent lance Station, part of an anarchist squat Road and Albany Road. Although hidden by later alterations to based in the old firestation. A number the historic built form, Old Kent Road of high profile bands performed at the Largely passing through fields until the formerly stood as an attractive, well venue including the Jesus and Mary 19th Century, building occurred in irregu- used high street boasting public build- Chain, Chumbawamba, Pulp and Primal lar spurts along the Old Kent Road from ings and facilities, a range of taverns Scream. Other local musical connections the early 1800s with a diverse mix of ele- and small shops, and residential villas. included the Workhouse recording stu- gant Georgian terraces and villas togeth- In Victorian times tramlines were laid dios, where Ian Dury tracked his No. 1 er with much cheaper housing and fac- down the Old Kent Road for the first hit ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ and tories. In 1834 the large gasworks on the horse-drawn trams. In the early 1900s post-punk icons Gang of Four recorded east side of the Old Kent Road opposite these were converted to electric trams their seminal debut album ‘Entertain- its junction with Commercial Way was and the traders that had lined the Old ment’. The road still continues to have founded by the South Metropolitan Gas Kent Road during Victorian times were some night time economy with a number Works Company, becoming a major local moved to East Street, where the thriving of bars, cafes and restaurants open late employer. Bricklayers Arms station was East Street market now takes place. The into the evening. Clockwise from top left View along the Old Kent Road 1920 Former World Turned Upside Down public house Shirley Temple in The Little Prin- cess (1939) performing ‘Wot Cher! Knocked ‘em in the Old Kent Road’. Other performances of the pop- ular music hall song include Julie Andrews, and Fozzy Bear for the Muppet Show (1977). View of the gasometers c.1910, with the now demolished Turks Head pub- lic house in the foreground Current context While its significance as a pilgrim route Kent Road is currently the dominant des- Victorian streets and some Georgian may have diminished slightly the Old tination for comparison shopping within terraces and Squares off the Old Kent Kent Road continues to function as an the borough. Road. Parts of the historic high street important component of the London that once ran the length of the Old Kent Inner Ring Road, as well as a connection Road have remained more or less intact, between London and Dover. By linking Recent developments the largest stretch running between the inner London to outer London, the Old Bricklayers Arms roundabout, tailing Kent Road has become an important have tended to into East Street, up until Burgess Park. transport corridor for buses – there are This stretch of mostly Victorian terraces currently 11 routes travelling along it – turn away from the is home to a range of new and relatively while the connections to the wider South well-established businesses, including East and mainland Europe via Dover road, presenting general and specialist grocers, cafes, ensure a consistently high volume of restaurants, churches, gyms, hair and large freight vehicles. blank facades beauty services, and community-based services. The size of the Old Kent Road com- and car parks to bined with the sheer volumes of passing Located in the high street hinterlands, a traffic, have had a marked effect area’s the increasingly combination of industrial, storage and streetscape. While development had warehouse uses occupy the area. While traditionally oriented itself towards the vehicle dominated some industrial uses have waned over road in order to make use of the high time, a large number of business and footfall and passing trade it offered, streetscape. jobs are still contained in these areas.