Camden Town Unlimited year in review 2023

No one anticipated the changes we have seen in the world over the last four years. Here at Camden Town Unlimited we’ve worked hard to pull together all the support we can to help you, our members, through these very testing times. Like many of you we’ve cut our costs to make it possible to keep going.

We know that a safe and secure High Street is the foundation of its success, so we continue to offer security wardens dedicated to the BID area, and work closely with the police and council to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Alongside this we continue to make progress on the Camden Highline and Camden Collective, bringing new visitors and creative start-ups to Camden Town. Like many of you we’ve cut our costs to make it possible to keep going. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to in 2023:

Camden Highline

The Camden Highline will transform a disused railway viaduct into a new park and garden walk. It will run from Camden Gardens in the west to York Way in the east, linking the key destinations in Camden Town and King’s Cross with a new landmark for London, bringing in 1.2 million new visitors a year, and providing local green space to 20,000 local people.

The project began with a crowdfund in 2017, and since then has raised over £1m from thousands of local donors. James Corner Field Operations, the team behind the New York Highline has completed the design, and in January 2023 it received a resolution to grant planning consent. Our focus now is fundraising to build the first section, which will run from Camden Gardens to Royal College Street.

Camden Collective

Camden Collective transforms vacant buildings into free hot-desking space, subsidised offices, retail and learning space for start-up businesses. Since 2009 it has operated in 18 spaces, ranging from single occupant retail units to a 2,200m2 vacant hospital. Over this time it has incubated 400+ new businesses and created 300+ jobs.

Collective currently operates from Auction Rooms, in the heart of Camden Town. By providing space for businesses set up and grow, Collective creates a pipeline of new start-ups to join Camden Town’s business community, in many cases collaborating with and buying from existing businesses. It also helps maintain Camden’s reputation as a hub for the creative industries, and brings new spend to the High Street.

Most importantly, it helps encourage Londoners to visit Camden Town. A recent survey of Collective members found a marked improvement in their impression of the area since joining. This kind of organic reputation-building is difficult to obtain through traditional means, and incredibly powerful when considering the multiplying effects of high-turnover hot-desking, word of mouth and other people drawn to the area by Collective members.

In 2024 Collective opened its 19th building, the vacant Hawley Infants School, which will become a newnew hub for climate-tech start ups.

Camden Inspire

A true Camden Town street festival which celebrates the culture and identity that makes Camden Town shine. By inviting local businesses to trade, try out new business models, host workshops and guide the shape of the festival we are putting Camden Town enterprise on a platform.

This is just a sample of our ongoing projects, see our projects page or get in touch to find out more