Angel BID CEO Ben Stephenson looks back over 2024/ 2025

Welcome to the latest annual review of the Angel Islington Business Improvement District, covering our operations across 2024/5. To those of our 550 members I’ve not yet met, my name is Ben Stephenson and I run the BID with a small team of staff above Frederick’s restaurant on Islington High Street. This is what we’ve all been up to this year.

There has been a lot of work around retail crime, to understand and improve local responses to the criminal justice system. Shoplifting remains a real problem in the Angel and across the country with a rise of 29% nationally, year-on-year. It’s now at its highest level in 20 years. Locally, a small number of prolific offenders commit the vast majority of the crime, and the partnerships we’re developing aim to focus more intensively on those offenders.

A second cohort of businesses were supported towards becoming BCorps, as part of the BIDs commitment to make the Angel a significant cluster of sustainable businesses, working together to address place-based challenges, as well as operating their businesses in a responsible and ethical way. Congratulations to Bolt Burdon Solicitors for being the first of that cohort to make it all the way to BCorp certification.

Talking of place-based challenges, our Angel Crackers campaign was a huge collaborative effort which started with a conversation at the BID’s Angel Responsible Business Network. This network is for any business that wants to collaborate to help the community, volunteer, raise funds or mentor. After finding out that Christmas Crackers were invented in the Angel in the 1860s. our campaign involved well over 100 volunteers from Angel businesses to manufacture 3000 Angel specific Christmas crackers and sell them in local shops. Sponsored by Tishman Speyer, Angel Crackers raised £8,000 to combat social isolation in Islington at Christmas. Thanks to partners Islington Giving, Angel Central, the Business Design Centre and the many others who offered support, cracker contents, offered to be stockists and helped us promote the initiative.

We launched the Angel Hospitality Network to support our many hospitality businesses on compliance, recruitment, sustainability and promotion. Hospitality is a key part of the neighbourhood’s economy, particularly at night, and the network has helped set the BIDs agenda in this area. Projects will be delivered in 2025 that will be reported back on in the Autumn, before we ask for guidance to set the agenda again for next year.

As part of our work to enliven the Angel’s streets with public art, the BID curated the ‘People of Camden Passage’ outdoor exhibition by Gary Williams, highlighting the many characters that you’ll find in this iconic Angel street.

The BID delivered a hugely popular Glow in the Angel event that launches Christmas every year. After months of organisation, the event was moved to the Angel Central shopping centre from Islington Green following a forecast of inclement weather. We’re extremely grateful to them for putting us up and also to David Astbury Estate Agents who built a santa’s grotto inside a disused retail unit in a matter of hours, it was no mean feat to make it look festive.

We joined the Greater London Authority’s High Streets Data Service, which provides a range of insights around footfall, spend and audiences, which helps us work with our members to plan how we promote the Angel. We learned for instance that there has been a large growth in international visitors to the area. Spend is up by almost 20% in the daytime year-on-year and footfall is stable across the week, but with slower Sundays.

The Angel recycling team continued to pick up new members and is getting very good at finding new homes for businesses’ unwanted furniture and electrical items. Local charities and community organisations are grateful to receive such items and the BID plays an important part in developing the links.

We welcomed Laura Mason, our new Marketing Manager who will manage the Angel Marketing and Culture Group, as well as delivering two monthly newsletters (one to members and one to consumers) as well as the Winter Guide and Summer Guide which goes out to 5,000 local households.

We’re always happy to hear from members with ideas, suggestions and projects – do get in touch with me directly if you’d like to set up a meeting: Ben@angelislington.london