Manage our streets

We shape a sustainable, healthy environment that is clean, safe, and well-managed, laying the foundations for a world-class destination.

Waste & recycling

Sign up to Heart of London’s preferred commercial waste and recycling scheme, helping us to deliver better air quality, reduce traffic whilst contributing towards a zero-carbon economy.

Waste matters

Ensure you present your business waste for collection at the correct times to coincide with your contractor specified collection times.

Click here to view a map of Piccadilly St James’s, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and St Martin’s Lane commercial waste and recycling presentation and collection times. 

For more information, please contact Director of Operations, Robin Hibbert at robin@holba.london.

Consolidate waste & recycling collections

Goods vehicles already account for up to 30% of traffic in the West End and commercial traffic is predicted to increase from 200,000 vehicles to 270,000 a day in the future. 

By working together and taking key actions, we can improve on the air quality, making more space for pedestrians and creating a better environment for everyone who works, lives, or visits the West End.

There are up to 60 different waste companies operating in Westminster alone. We encourage businesses to switch their waste and recycling supplier to reduce the number of operators in the West End. 

We encourage all businesses to switch to our preferred suppliers and use Westminster Waste Management & Environmental Services, operated by Veolia. All members that sign up to Commercial Waste Services via HOLBA receive a 10% discount on standard prices. On top of this, as you will be appointing a public service, this waste service does not charge VAT, making their prices 20% less expensive than a private waste contractor.

For more information, please contact Director of Operations, Robin Hibbert at robin@holba.london.

Install a recycling & waste compactor

In previous years, the Heart of London Business Alliance has secured Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding from Westminster City Council (WCC). If you would like to install a waste compactor on your premises, please contact our Director of Operations Robin Hibbert at robin@holba.london

We are confident that another round of funding will become available so are currently seeking additional sites for future installations. Participation will not cost businesses anything and will contribute to improving air quality, reducing carbon and reducing waste.  

The CIL funding allows us to expand the original pilot project we implemented at 30 Panton Street, vastly improving the air quality within London’s West End. More information about the pilot project can be found here

For more information, please contact info@holba.london.

Use zero-emission delivery services

Many businesses are switching to zero-emission delivery and courier services. These often can be cheaper, faster and better for the environment. 

The XeroE platform pools London’s emission-free vehicles into one place for all your delivery and transport needs. You can find out more or register here

We also suggest E-Cargo Bikes, which operates extensively in the West End. Click here to find out more. 

Use zero-emission vehicles

Funding and support are available for businesses and organisations considering introducing electric vehicles. Grants of up to £2,500 are available for electric vehicles, including commercial vehicles via the government website. 

Businesses and other organisations can apply for grants to install electric vehicle charging points. The funding is up to £350 for each socket, up to a maximum of 40 across all sites for each applicant. 

Most charging point suppliers use renewable energy sources, making the transition to electric vehicles even better for air quality and reducing carbon.

For more information, please contact info@holba.london.

Crime & safety

Reducing the impact of crime on our streets is a key priority for Heart of London. We work closely with the Metropolitan Police and the local authority, collaborating in a partnership approach to deter, deflect and disrupt crime in the West End. Our security officers are on patrol on a 24/7 basis, providing reassurance to our businesses. 

Security

Our seven-days-a-week My Local Bobby private security team provide support to our members and respond to on-street nuisance, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and crime issues. These officers are often the initial responders to these activities, referring cases to the Met Police and assisting members with issues. 

All members can join our peer-to-peer radio link network. This enables our businesses to stay connected with one another as well as to contact our security team. Through our partnership with Safer Business Network, members and staff can receive free training in radio use. 

Safer Business Network also provide DISC free of charge to our levy-paying members. DISC is a secure, GDPR compliant website that holds images and profiles of people seen in the area committing anti-social behaviour and/or criminal acts. Businesses can add offenders as well as incidents to existing offenders’ profiles. 

If you would like a radio, please contact Ali at ali@holba.london

If you would like access to DISC, please contact Bob at bob@holba.london

For security issues, please contact Head of My Local Bobby, Ahmet Izzet, at ahmet@mylocalbobby.com.

Purple Flag

Our areas of Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus have successfully been awarded Purple Flag accreditation, a recognition of excellence in managing the evening and night-time economy for the period 2022.  

The Purple Flag award allows members of the public to quickly identify towns and city centres that offer an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night out. The accreditation process takes towns and cities through a comprehensive set of standards, management processes and good practice examples, all designed to help transform the evening and night-time economy (ENTE) and provide a research, training and development programme. 

For further information, please contact Robin Hibbert: robin@holba.london

Best Bar None

The Best Bar None accreditation scheme promotes the responsible management and operation of all evening and night-time venues, accrediting premises that demonstrate a commitment to raising standards, promoting excellence and, in turn, reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. Created as part of the Westminster Licensing Charter in partnership with Westminster City Council, we rolled out the first Best Bar None scheme in the borough to businesses around Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus in 2018. To date, 20 venues have been accredited, proving the area’s reputation as a thriving and safe destination is well-deserved.

If you would like to be included in this accreditation and for further enquiries about this scheme, please contact the Engagement team at operations@holba.london

Women’s night safety charter

We believe every woman has the right to feel safe when travelling, working, or going out at night. That is why we are signatories to the Mayor of London’s Women’s Night Safety Charter.  

Alongside our seven-days-a-week private security team, we are encouraging everyone to “look up & look out” and report incidents, whether it happens to them or to someone else. Together, there are things we can do to help make London safer for women at night. We are also supporting the Night stars initiatives with the local authority: Night Stars.

Any organisation that operates at night can sign up and support the Women’s Night Safety Charter. 

To become a signatory, click here: Women’s Night Safety Charter | London City Hall

Awareness counter terrorism

The West End Security Group (WSEG) aims to equip businesses with the skills they need to react to and recover from critical incidents such as a terrorist attack. Our work with WSEG ensures the wider West End is prepared to respond to and recover from any major security incident.

ACT Awareness is the counter terrorism training initiative for businesses, produced by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO). ACT covers a range of topics such as: 

  • Spotting suspicious behaviour 
  • How to report suspicious behaviour anonymously 
  • How to deal with suspected mail threats 
  • The current threat level to the UK 

Find further information here

Saving Lives – Defibrillator locations points

Click here to view a map of Defibrillator location points within the Heart of London BID area.

Homelessness outreach

Heart of London is committed to engaging with issues surrounding homelessness and believes that as a community we can talk openly about it in an effort to better understand the causes and how to solve the problem.

Connection at St Martin’s

We partner with homelessness charity The Connection at St Martin’s. We have a Street Engagement team who patrol our streets daily looking out for those who are vulnerable. The charity helps over 4,000 homeless people every year to move away from, and stay off, the streets of London. They do this by tackling the underlying causes of rough sleeping as well as offering practical help. 

Services include providing tailored employment support and training, volunteering opportunities and housing advice. They also provide a variety of specialist services to help clients cope with the physical and psychological effects of being homeless, empowering them to develop their strengths and ability to change their own future and recover from homelessness, working with clients, not for them. 

To find out more about The Connection or if you would like to get involved, please visit connection-at-stmartins.org.uk

Rough sleeper referral

If you are concerned about someone’s vulnerability and want to alert West End Homelessness, please make a referral by emailing SETreferrals@cstm.org.uk giving as much information as you can.

West End Homeless operates in certain areas, Monday – Friday, 7am – 7pm. 

Outside of these hours or this area, contact StreetLink. In an emergency, please always call 999. 

Talk to the person if you feel safe to do so. Acknowledging someone who is sleeping rough can reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation. It could be a smile or a wave or, if you feel comfortable, say ‘hello’ and have a conversation. It helps them feel less alone. 

Let them know that they can visit The Connection at St Martin’s to get help and support. 

Laying the foundations for a world-class destination.

Results

Provide 2,000 rough sleepers with professional support each year.

2,000

A 47% reduction in waste vehicle journeys overall.

47%

42,927t reduction in carbon dioxide emissions as a result of our waste supplier scheme.

42,927t