Client: London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames

Project: Measuring the NTE Workshops

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What were MAKE asked to do?

The London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames wanted to measure the importance of its evening and night-time economy. In particular, it wanted to know more about its value, strengths and weaknesses and capacity to generate more economic and cultural value for the borough. 

How did MAKE do it?

  • Working with the client we helped them build a workshop programme that introduced the latest thinking in the night-time economy and then specifically the measures that can be used to value the contribution of the ENTE to the wider local economy. 

  • We brought together key participants from the council, including economics, planning, regeneration and town centre management, as well as councilors and other interested parties from across the borough.  

  • We focused the workshop programme on three themes. The first was analysing what they wanted to understand (e.g. sectors, sub sectors of the ENTE, the jobs created, the potential for expansion and where), what data they already possessed internally (more than they thought) and what we were able to provide from our own NightMix data set (a lot!).  

  • The second was on solutions: Having undertaken a provisional audit of the data, we identified the key strengths: e.g. Richmond town centre upmarket restaurants, traditional pubs, riverside venues; weaknesses: culture, non-alcohol choices, young people’s activities; opportunities Teddington and Twickenham town centres, live music; threats: over-regulation, poor data, political equivocation etc. 

  • The third was in identifying how to collect better data on the ENTE and how to integrate it into their economic and regeneration strategy and Local Plan.

What happened next?

The data from the event and their own further analysis allowed the council to inform a suite of policies much more effectively over the next five years and to give the ENTE the recognition it deserves.

What unique value did MAKE bring to this project?

We were able to use our NightMix data to compliment what the council already possessed, but crucially to help Richmond-upon-Thames to translate this into more robust and rigorous economic and spatial planning ENTE-friendly policy.