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Arsenal Regeneration – Caledonian Road
In particular Metal was asked to identify opportunities for culture and creativity to impact on the social and economic benefits brought to the area through regeneration. Our work in this role has included research, advocacy, reports and recommendations, building relationships between the local authority and their arts community, as well as some ‘live’ projects on the ground.
In conversation with a group of traders, Metal discovered that they had had an interest, for some time, in having festival lights along the Caledonian Road in time for the extra trading that happens around Christmas time. We did not have sufficient funds to assist them in making this happen, and so came up with a lighting idea that served to provide a much greater display of the trading community working together. Metal approached all the traders along Caledonian Road with the proposal that they take part in an idea which saw each trader dress their shop front window individually – together forming an overall festival lighting scheme. Packaged around this central idea were networking meetings and some business advice opportunities. We also organised a street event at which the lights were symbolically switched on by local MP, Chris Smith, and Islington’s Mayor. The traders brought out stalls onto the street and opened later that evening, whilst street performers, musicians and ice sculptors drew shoppers to take advantage of their specially created marketing offers.
“It is only now that we have been able to get something – even if it is just Christmas tree lights for shop window – at least we got something, and hopefully this is a positive note for traders to come together and see that things will improve.” Vijay Patel, Newstop Newsagent, Caledonian Road | |
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Metal were commissioned by London Borough of Islington (LBI) to contribute to the strategic thinking on how the opportunities for positive change could be maximized from the fact that Arsenal Football Club were moving, building a 60,000 capacity new stadium, and rebuilding a mile and a half of Islington’s urban landscape from Highbury in the north of the borough to Barnsbury in the south.
Metal conceived and co-ordinated an event designed to bring together the traders on Caledonian Road into the beginnings of a formal group – revitalising what was once The Caledonian Road Traders. The reason for this was to ensure that the information provided to these traders regarding the Kings Cross and Arsenal Regeneration schemes is up to date and accurate, as well as providing access to business training, advice and information, designed to enable businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that are arising from the regeneration of the area.
Local papers took up the initiative that Metal and the traders started, to campaign to improve the Caledonian Road, with a series of articles in the months following the event.