The Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre closed its doors in September 2020 after 55 years of trading, leaving around 70 traders and local businesses to find new premises while also dealing with the economic pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lyn Hamblin, one of LSBU’s leads on Commercial Student Experience and Applied Learning for LSBU Business School, has been working with Tree Shepherd, a philanthropic organisation run by Colin Crooks MBE, to ensure that the sometimes difficult process of regeneration delivers the best outcomes for the community, including local traders.
To support the traders, Lyn and Tree Shepherd have been offering classes and workshops; advising on anything from business accounting and balance sheets to bookkeeping. The workshops have been open to all traders and despite the lockdown earlier in the year, they were still able to go ahead online. A bespoke advice service was also set up for traders to get personalised support, work through individual plans, and to help them in the search for new premises.
See how our staff worked on similar projects
