Projects
Behind every project we undertake is a clear objective: to make Holborn an exciting, enjoyable place, with a true sense of identity and purpose
Our projects deliver tangible results. Reducing impact on the environment and behaving ethically and responsibly builds sustainable reputations. By giving something back we encourage others to do the same, all the while raising awareness and instilling a sense of pride in our surroundings. There’s an economic basis too: socially responsible organisations are more cost-efficient, maximise their efficiency and increase their value.
The projects themselves fall into three categories: travel, sustainability and public realm.
Travel
Area Travel Plan
Everyone wants to get around in the most efficient, safe and comfortable way possible, and people in Holborn are no exception. So we’ve developed an Area Travel Plan, identifying problems and devising solutions for them. Part and parcel of this is presenting businesses in the area with practical, co-ordinated options and proposals for sustainable travel.
Zipcar
Zipcar is a worldwide car club. Members can reserve a car via the internet or mobile phone, and the price includes the congestion charge, maintenance, insurance, parking and fuel. Not only that, but the first 60 miles of your journey are free.
Most of all, the service is environmentally friendly, with each Zipcar replacing 15 privately owned cars on the road.
As Ben Plowden, Director of Smarter Travel at Transport for London says: "Car club vehicles in London have been shown to cut car use of members by an average of 36%, with a fifth of members selling a car either immediately before or after joining, thereby reducing levels of traffic congestion and parking pressure."
Membership is free for employees of companies in the Holborn Business Investment District. Why not sign up now? Go to www.zipcar.co.uk/inholborn
Holborn Underground
Perhaps the biggest challenge Holborn faces is the redevelopment of its underground station. inholborn is continuing to push for improvements, with the emphasis on a new traffic management system to improve pedestrian safety and alleviate pavement congestion.
We have successfully collaborated with the Camden Council to have the pavement widened just outside the tube station to allow for better pedestrian access.
Business Travel Plans
Through distribution of The Smarter Working Practices guide, inholborn is encouraging businesses to adopt flexible working patterns for their employees. This will help relieve overcrowding at peak travel times, since more people will be travelling in and out of Holborn outside conventional hours.
Individual business travel plans are also a key focus. As well as supporting Transport for London’s Travel Plan schemes, we engage Holborn businesses in the benefits of corporate travel plans, putting the emphasis on the advantages they bring not only to employees’ efficiency and well-being, but also to an organisation’s business success.
For more information go to www.workwiseuk.org and tfl/corporateand enterprise
Cycle Park
In partnership with Transport for London and Camden council, we’re in the process of establishing a secure Cycle Park for Holborn. And no ordinary one either. Providing secure parking for 100 bikes for employees within the Holborn Business Investment District, the facility will include showers, toilets and lockers.
Often, a barrier to cycling as a mode of transport is the lack of somewhere safe to store your bike and to get changed. The high-specification cycle park will go a long way to overcome this, so that cycling becomes a practical means of travelling into, out of and around Holborn.
Various tie-ins are planned. We’re looking at teaming up with local cycling organisations, distributing co-branded cycling starter packs, and holding maintenance and cycling proficiency workshops. As part of the launch we hope to offer cycle registration (to deter bike theft), while in the longer term we’re aiming for cycle rental from the site.
For more information, and to register your interest in renting a space in the Cycle Park, email info@inholborn.org
Walks
As you’ll discover elsewhere on the website, our guided walks are very popular. Behind them is a simple philosophy: to identify Holborn’s importance within London and to give people an insight into its historic and cultural significance. Businesses in the BID area talk the talk and walk the walk – with walks leaflets stocked in their reception areas and their employees regularly taking part.
Demand is such that at present, walks are arranged right into 2009. inholborn can arrange bespoke walks, and new starter induction walks for employees joining businesses based in Holborn.
We can also offer walks to tie in with other organisations and events, such as The London Festival of Architecture and Museum Mile – the open weekend for the Cultural Olympiad.
Sustainability
Recycling
Every business in the Holborn Business Investment District will be able to recycle their paper, cardboard, plastic and tin for free. Not only will this reduce their carbon footprint, it will also reduce that of Holborn as a whole.
Inholborn is replacing the approximate 80 trucks a week used by other recycling collectors with just one electric-powered truck. This not only cuts down traffic in a highly congested area, but eliminates a vast amount of carbon emissions and fuel usage.
As more and more organisations sign up for the recycling scheme, the greener Holborn becomes. As well as saving businesses money, it’s anticipated that income generated from the recycling scheme will allow us to fund other sustainability projects.
A free service that helps the environment both locally and globally while helping to relieve congestion in the area; it’s hard to get better than that. Over 100 businesses in the Holborn Investment District have signed up.
Office Audits
Something else businesses in the Holborn BID benefit from are our office audits. We assess a business in partnership with the Better Climate for Camden (BC4C) in order to raise awareness of its energy consumption and carbon footprint. And offer solutions to reduce them.
We’d like Holborn businesses to attain BS8555 accreditation as ‘best practice’ workplaces, identifying Holborn as a pro-active contributor to climate change and an effective contributor to a healthier, greener London.
Bag Ban
Bag ban is a campaign for the use of sustainable bags in Holborn, with the aim of making it the first area in central London to become plastic-bag free by 2010.
Already, a number of businesses, including cafes, retailers and offices, have expressed their commitment to the campaign. The alternative, sustainable bags that we will provide in the next few weeks will offer a great opportunity to market inholborn.
Gum and Butt Catchers
Make something available and it will be used. This is very much the case with our gum and butt catchers, installed throughout the area and contributing every day to a cleaner and more attractive Holborn.
Public Realm
Street Banners
inholborn banners are now installed on the steets of Holborn. Bright and eye-catching, they provide a clearly branded message that really makes our presence known.
Loyalty Card
A loyalty card is in the pipeline. Initial consultation and design work have already taken place, the plan being to provide Holborn businesses with a card that allows members discounts at participating outlets and services. [Contact us] to register your interest.
All together now
Several networking events, under the title All Together, are happening this autumn.
All Together Smarter, in October, will feature a travel-related offer for local businesses. All Together Greener, in November, will promote a sustainability-related offer, while All Together Better, in December, is where we unveil our future vision for Holborn.
Gate Street
In the spring of 2009 a notable work of public art will be erected in Gate Street. The piece, Harmonic Tree, by up-and-coming sculptor Conrad Shawcross, will immediately create an exciting and identifiable focal point for the pedestrian area behind Holborn tube station. At the same time it will complete the regeneration of Gate Street, put us on the map as a cultural destination and enhance everyone’s access to contemporary art.
Red Lion Square
For many, Red Lion Square is the centre of Holborn. We feel the same way – it’s why we’ve pressing ahead with an innovative regeneration solution for it, encompassing not just the square itself but also its surrounding streets. As well as easing traffic flow, enhancing pedestrian and cycle accessibility, we’re looking at other factors such as street furniture, lighting, public art, even the surfaces of things like pavements and other built surfaces.
Lighting
Holborn is a vibrant place during the day, and with inholborn’s impetus it’s set to become equally so at night.
On November 6th – right in time to beat the winter gloom - hundreds of lights began to illuminate buildings throughout the area. The lighting will make the Business Investment District uniquely identifiable and promote the character and history of Holborn.
Of course, there are practical benefits too. Attractive, well-lit retail spaces increase footfall and therefore sales. The lighting system, the work of the internationally-renowned Jason Bruges Studio, will also be energy-efficient, thus providing cost-savings at the same time as it enhances Holborn in the public imagination.
We are currently in the pilot stage of the lighting installation, which can be viewed on the North side of High Holborn, between Southampton Row and Red Lion Street. Let us know what you think about the project, or if your business would be interested in signing up for it!
Making a difference for everyone in Holborn
