Hackney Council has secured £5.3 million to develop Hackney Central as a fashion hub and improve the town centre. The funding will create up to 200 jobs through developing a fashion outlet centre around an existing Burberry store and refitting railway arches for retail. It will also improve shop fronts and provide training for local residents.

1. HACKNEY CENTRAL
HACKNEY

2. design and retail hub creating up to 200 jobs and
attracting visitors and investment to the borough.
The hub will be developed around Hackney’s
existing Burberry store in Chatham Place, an
anchor to attract other fashion designers and
retailers to open outlet stores east of the town
centre, also incorporating studios, while funding
for improvements to the nearby Mare Street
Narrow Way is also in place.
Hackney as a whole has seen 21% business growth
since 2004, nearly double London’s rate. This new
activity is concentrated primarily in media, technology
A
£1billion investment in the London and consulting. Between 1994 and 2007, Hackney
Overground rail network has transformed saw a 27% drop in VAT-registered manufacturing
Hackney Central’s links to the rest of businesses. What grew to fill the manufacturing
London and the South East, with a vastly improved workspace were creative and technology businesses,
service opening up ready access to the town as well as fashion designers and artists.
centre for the whole region.
This brochure will tell you more about what Hackney
Hackney Central is becoming a destination town Central town centre can offer your business, and
centre - over 100,000 people visit the area to see why you should move to one of the most exciting,
performances at the Hackney Empire each year, dynamic and creative parts of London.
a number set to increase now that the Hackney
Picturehouse cinema has opened on the other side
of Mare Street.
Hackney Council has secured £5.3 million to make
major improvements to the Hackney Central town Jules Pipe,
centre area. The funding will develop a new fashion Mayor of Hackney
FOREWORD
2

3. Hackney Empire
It’s great to be part of a vibrant
growing community and have
the world on our doorstep.
Clarie Middleton,
Chief Executive, Hackney Empire
3

4. HACKNEY CENTRAL
TOWN CENTRE
OPPORTUNITY SITES
Site reference Site name
A1 Tesco east, Morning Lane north side
A2 Tesco west / Mare Street backs, Morning Lane
A3 5-13 Morning Lane
A4 Clapton Bus Depot
A5 Retail frontage west of Clapton Bus Depot fronting Mare Street
A6 Railway arches, Bohemia Place
A7 2-20 Morning Lane and Hackney Trades Hall
B1 7-19 Amhurst Road and Council owned Station car park
B2 Hackney Central Station Ticket Hall
C1 The Rectory, 356 Mare Street, Land rear of 392-396 Mare Street and Learning Trust site
D1 1-17 Lower Clapton Road, Clarence House and 2-12a Clarence Road
D2 302-304 Mare Street
E1 Florfield Road depot, Maurice Bishop House and 13 Reading Lane
F1 7a Sylvester Road and ’the washouse’, 117 Wilton Way
F2 1-10 Great Eastern buildings and land to the rear of 29-39 Horton Road (LBH ownership only)
4

5. KEY
01 Mare St East – New Urban Quarter
02 Amhurst Road
03 Mare Street
04 St John’s Church Gardens
05 Civic Heart
06 Mixed Use Employment
07 Traditional Streets
08 Kenmure Triangle
09 Clarence Mews & Clarence Road
10 Residential Estate
5

6. YOUR
CUSTOMERS
The median household income for Hackney Central The Hackney Empire welcomes more than 100,000
is £35,880, compared with £21,949 in Newham, and customers through its doors each year, including
£38, 745 for Islington, and the town centre area has for its famous pantomime, acclaimed by national
seen a 12% increase in population since 2007. and regional media time and time again as the
finest in the capital. Hackney Central Library,
Hackney Central is the second largest economic beside Hackney Town Hall on Mare Street, receives
centre in the borough, with just under 7,500 close to 600,000 visitors per year, while the
employees working and shopping locally. The Hackney Museum sees over 36,000.
public sector is the primary employer with retail,
real estate and education the next highest. High The new Hackney Picturehouse, from City Screen,
street employees number approximately the same and situated opposite Hackney Town Hall, opened
as Dalston. Borough-wide, the high street and in late 2011 and is attracting visitors not only from
hospitality sectors employ 17% of the workforce. other parts of the borough but also from across
east London.
Research commissioned by the local authority
shows that Hackney Central is in the midst of a Household names such as Marks & Spencer and
pocket of households with high weekly expenditure Tesco are represented in Hackney Central, which take
and preference for quality goods. advantage not only of the local residential density,
but also of the public sector employment centres of
Hackney Homemade Markets take place every Homerton Hospital and the local authority.
Saturday and Sunday, in St John-at-Hackney
Churchyard Gardens and in the Book Box courtyard Hackney is also an entrepreneurial borough, with
respectively. They feature street food from around the number of self-employed people increasing by
the world, as well as homemade and vintage 4% in 2007 and remaining 2-3% higher than the
goods, and are part of a markets renaissance London average ever since; during 2010, 17% of
including Broadway Market, Chatsworth Road Hackney residents were self employed.
Market, and Goldsmith’s Row Book Market, which
attract thousands of shoppers and visitors from
Hackney and around London.
6

7. Hackney Homemade Market,
St John-at-Hackney Churchyard Gardens.
© Gary Manhine 7

8. Architect’s indicative impression of Hackney Central fashion hub scheme
It’s great that more jobs will be created in the borough and
that an outlet centre will have a knock-on effect for the local
economy. Bringing retail tourism to Hackney will hopefully
mean that everyone will benefit, from the small independent
boutiques to the local designers and everyone in between.
William Richard Green, Hackney-based fashion designer
8

9. We believe that a thriving neighbourhood cinema close to the
heart of Hackney will have a huge effect on the local area, bringing
opportunities for other businesses and for Hackney residents. The
facility has been widely welcomed and has traded strongly from its
launch. We look forward to building even larger audiences that will
contribute positively to the footfall and economy of Mare Street.
Lyn Goleby, Managing Director, City Screen Limited
There is such pride in the area and real potential to boost economic
activity. We believe there is a real opportunity to create a town
centre that will entice local people to use the businesses and
facilities more regularly and encourage visitors to spend more time
in Hackney Central.
Andrew Blythe, Lettings Manager, Stirling Ackroyd
9

10. We understand what it takes to deliver sustainable business growth for
the Hackney fashion designer sector, and we support the proposed fashion
hub development as a good opportunity to develop this. We know how to
work with creative people, how to develop survival strategies for innovative
businesses and provide confidence, not only to the designers themselves, but
also to buyers, the finance community, manufacturers and the wider fashion
industry. People recognise that the Centre for Fashion Enterprise really
makes a difference.
Wendy Malem, Director, Centre for Fashion Enterprise
10

11. £5.3MILLION FASHION AND
TOWN CENTRE INVESTMENT
Hackney Council has secured investment totalling It’s therefore no surprise that Hackney Central is
£5.3million from the Greater London Authority to a hotspot for up-and-coming fashion talent: the
develop a fashion hub around an existing Burberry world-renowned former Cordwainers College
outlet store in Chatham Place, creating up to 200 campus in Mare Street is home to the London
jobs, and a real boost to the visitor economy. College of Fashion, as well as the Centre for
Fashion Enterprise (CFE).
The Council is working in partnership with Network
Rail in their development of twelve empty arches in The CFE is London’s pioneering business growth
Morning Lane, and the new funding will ensure that incubator that supports and nurtures emerging
the spaces are fitted out to a high quality specification fashion design talent, with a past and present
suitable for fashion retail units, cafés, studios and roster of international designers including Erdem,
restaurants. Work will also be done to improve the Peter Pilotto, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll and
arches’ connection to the wider town centre. Meadham Kirchhoff. The centre provides high level
industry intelligence for designers, guidance on
Fashion and retail training programmes will be finance and production, and introduces marketing
developed so that Hackney residents can get the and public relations expertise to help build brands.
training and development they need to get both
entry level jobs as well as more senior roles. Reflecting the growing cluster of fashion
businesses which are drawn to east London and
The funding will also allow the Council to appoint particularly to Hackney, the CFE is launching a new
a team of architects and retail specialists to work Designer Manufacturer Innovation Support Centre
with local businesses in the Mare Street, Narrow to focus on supporting local manufacturers to
Way and Clarence Road area to produce design innovate and grow their businesses.
guidelines and business plans that will attract
as many customers to the town centre as possible.
Businesses will then be able to bid for funding,
through the Council, to carry out improvements
to shop fronts in line with the guidelines.
11

12. AROUND HACKNEY CENTRAL
Your customers are also drawn to the Hackney Central area by enormously
popular and fashionable destinations are fast becoming some of the visited
in London, featuring regularly in the media both here and abroad.
BROADWAY MARKET LONDON FIELDS LIDO WILTON WAY
The market, located at the Located in the North West corner This up-and-coming street
Southern end of London Fields of Hackney’s immensely popular tucked away behind the town
Park, takes place every Saturday London Fields Park, the lido is the hall has earned itself a feature
and draws big crowds locally as capital’s only 50-metre outdoor in the pages of Time Out, being
well as from all around London. heated swimming pool, attracting described as ‘Hackney’s latest
185,000 visitors last year. hipster haven’, with an eclectic
With more than 100 stalls, mix of a vintage store, traditional
Broadway Market’s mix of Featuring two cafes, it’s popular hair salon, café and independent
tastes and cultures includes a whatever the weather, with some wine shop.
very popular farmer’s market; venturing in with snow on the
street food; crafts; organic and park outside. Popular with the fashion industry
Fairtrade products; and original talents based around Hackney
clothing, and has made it a jewel Restored by owner Hackney Central, Wilton Way is already
in Hackney’s crown for attracting Council, and managed by GLL a destination for visitors to the
visitors, and a very different, on the Council’s behalf, London borough, with local businesses
highly individual rival to Borough Fields Lido is also a training organising their own outdoor
Market. venue for the US Paralympic events, including street parties,
swimming team, in preparation dog shows and Come Dine With
Broadway Market booksellers for the 2012 Paralympic Games. Me-style banquets.
and Hackney Council have also
launched Goldsmith’s Row Book Pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Market, which takes place every joined 5,000 other revellers in
Sunday. Wilton Way for a Royal Wedding
street party in April, 2011, while
members of her husband’s
band The Feeling played an
impromptu set in the street.
12

13. London Fields Lido, restored and
reopened by Hackney Council, and which
attracted 185,000 visitors last year
13

14. TRANSPORT
Hackney Central has benefited from a £1billion By the end of 2012 an Overground extension from
BARKING
investment in the London Overground, which with a New Cross will link Hackney Central to Clapham
high quality, and frequent service now links Hackney Junction, South West London, in a journey taking
Central to the rest of London and an Underground barely 40 minutes.
connection at Highbury & Islington station.
Stansted Airport is just over 30 miles - or 50 minutes
Three stops away on the Overground is Stratford - from Hackney Central, not only via the Eastway
station, connecting Hackney Central through the and M11 but also through overground rail services at
Docklands Light Railway to London City Airport; Hackney Downs and London Fields stations.
as well as trains to Essex; and through nearby
Stratford International station high speed South Hackney Central is well served by buses, with six of
Eastern services to connections in Kent. London’s 10 most popular routes starting, ending
and moving through the area, totalling more than
80million journeys per year.
Camden
More people cycle to work in Hackney than in
almost anywhere else in Britain, and in Hackney
Central key cycle routes link residential areas
around Lower Clapton, Victoria Park and London
Fields with routes to the City and beyond.
By the end of 2012 an Overground extension
from New Cross will link Hackney Central City of
Westminster
WA
to Clapham Junction, South West London,
TER
LOO
BRI
in a journey taking barely 40 minutes
DGE
London Fields
Cycle path through
WESTMIN
14 STER BR
IDGE

15. Walthamstow
Manor House
To Stansted Airport Waltham Central
Finsbury
Forest
Park Stamford Hill
Leytonstone
To M11 and
Clapton Stansted Airport
KEY
Stoke Newington
Rectory Road
Hackney
Leyton
Dalston
Hackney Wanstead Park
Dalston Downs
Canonbury Kingsland
Creative hub
Hackney Homerton
Central
Dalston
Highbury
& Islington
Junction Hackney Hackney
Wick
2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Central Park and venues
London Olympic Stratford
Hackney
Islington
Haggerston
Fields
Wick Park London Overground
Crossrail 1
Central Line
West District Line
Hoxton Ham
Bethnal Green Docklands Light Railway
Mile Bow
End
Shoreditch Bethnal Green
Church
Newham
Hammersmith & City Line
Jubilee Line
Shoreditch Piccadilly Line
High Street
Victoria Line
Tower Northern Line
City of Liverpool Street Hamlets Mainline Sevices
London Canning Town London
Bank City Airport
International airport
Shadwell
Tower
Hill Tower
Gateway
SOUTHWARK BRIDGE
BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE
LONDON BRIDGE
Canary Wharf
BRIDGE
King
North
TOWER
George V
Greenwich
London Crosharbour
Bridge

16. CONTACTS
For more information,
please contact:
Hackney Council Hackney Central Town
Centre Co-ordinator on 020 8356 7748.
Produced by Hackney Design, Communications & Print • March 2012 • PJ47499