A YEAR ON SINCE THE LONDON ELECTIONS, WHERE HAVE WE GOT TO WITH OUR MANIFESTO FOR THE NEW ECONOMY?
“A defiant deed has greater value than innumerable thousands of words.” Emmeline Pankhurst, Suffragette.
The most important shifts for a more just economy and society, and the necessary change, are often compelled by the dedicated collective action of the people. While the world is in turmoil, we can take comfort in being in solidarity together across divides to build on the legacy of those who fought for our rights and privileges. Through our deeds, we breathe life into our Manifesto for the New Economy!
Blog by Guild CEO Krissie Nicolson.
A year since Sadiq Khan was re-elected as Mayor of London and six months into 2025, we are reflecting on where the Guild has made progress in terms of our Manifesto for the New Economy, understanding how far we have come, so we know where we want to be by the end of the year. And before we next meet with the Mayor of London, as promised in his written address to members of the Guild at our Accountability Assembly in April last year saying “If I am elected I would love to meet again with the EETG along with my Deputy Mayors as soon as possible to discuss your manifesto”.
Since our affordable workspace manifesto in 2018, the Guild has consistently made the case for social value rents, which recognise the value created by London’s community wealth builders and entrepreneurs and remains a core focus of our work. Whilst some boroughs like Islington have policies and take action to secure workspace, this is not the norm.
The Trades Guild Community Land Trust is a permanent solution to unsustainable rent increases that have been closing music venues, pubs, shops and every type of small business that is needed and wanted by Londoners. As part of the People & Place programme for 2025, with this support from The Footwork Trust and with active members and supporters, we feel confident we can secure a site before the year is out, but only if we work together to increase our people power! “You only get the justice we have the collective power to compel”, as Thucydides put it.
After an exhausting amount of effort and persistence, and since campaigning outside City Hall in November 2024, then returning to the People’s Question time the following month to secure a recommitment from Sadiq Khan to honour his promise on a site for a Community Land Trust. We have seen some slow progress.
The CLT ask in our Manifesto is for the Mayor to help create one of London’s first small business-focused Community Land Trusts by transferring the long-term ownership of three Transport for London arches to London Trades Guild CLT. In the period before the unnecessary eviction of Guild member JC Motors by Places for London, on the 1st December 2023, 483 residents from Hackney – customers, friends, and supporters of proprietor Len Maloney collectively raised over £33,000 for project costs to campaign to secure JC Motors’ arch as the site for the CLT. We proposed this arch and two adjacent ones in the absence of any assets being offered, despite Sadiq Khan agreeing to work with the Guild to find the right site at Spitalfields Farm four years ago.
The Mayor of London has the power to enable the transfer of ownership of TfL-owned PFL arches. So we organised strategy meetings, developed our Manifesto for the New Economy, made five podcast episodes, organised voter turnout drives with Len appearing in the press and on national radio and serenading the Mayor. We also pulled out all the stops to get our manifesto recognised and on the agenda of those standing for election in the run-up to the London Elections.
With our membership located in just one corner of London, we weren’t sure we had enough people or money power to be successful, but we knew this was worthwhile enough to try! What we lacked, we made up for in chutzpah, determination and creativity. Len was indeed evicted, but remains committed to the CLT, whilst the home of his business for 40 years has sat empty for 8 months.
Can you help us create deeds, not empty words? Small business, socially trading organisation or self-employed? Join the Guild here to increase our collective people power! London resident who wants to be involved in shaping a shared vision for our CLT? Join the CLT here. Or email krissie@eastendtradesguild.org.uk if you would like to volunteer time or resources. Together we are stronger!
In summary, here’s where we have got to on our Manifesto proposals since our campaigning outside City Hall last year:
LONDON TRADES GUILD COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
At the most recent CLT meeting on 6th May 2025 at Hackney Town Hall, the Deputy Mayor for Business, Howard Dawber, promised a suite of sites for our next meeting at City Hall on 10th July. However, given previous experience, we can’t rely on promises being kept. If there are no credible sites on the table that meet the Guild’s site brief, we need to be ready to take action!
EETG Members left to right Tom Bott – Signature Brew, Len Maloney – JC Motors, Giuliana Majo – Tripspace, Krissie Nicolson – EETG, Margaret Asare – EyeLondon Opticians, Joe Sharpe – Zhero Logistics. Maher Anjum – Oitij-Jo Collective with the Mayor of Hackney, her cabinet, Labour Assembly Member Sem Moemer and Deputy Mayor for Business Howard Dawber.
SOCIAL VALUE
Our hard work led to the TFL arches being included as part of an investigation by the GLA’s Planning & Regeneration Committee. Their report, Social value in planning and regeneration: Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, makes recommendations to the Mayor of London that are what we have called for in our Manifesto and beyond, including:
Recommendation 8: Places for London should introduce an affordable workspace policy to protect longstanding businesses that deliver high social value. This policy should be developed in close consultation with existing local businesses and customers. As part of this policy, Places for London should prioritise foundational businesses.
Recommendation 9: Places for London should implement an official ‘right to return policy’ so that arch-based businesses displaced because of arch regeneration can return to their workspace. As part of this policy, rents should remain the same for existing businesses before and after development for a fixed period. Places for London should also cover any moving costs for businesses that wish to return to their original arch.
Recommendation 3: In the upcoming Inclusive Growth Plan, Places for London should define how it will deliver social value across its arch estate.
If Social Value Leases were adopted as part of a responsible, affordable workspace policy in place of PfL’s blanket market-driven approach, the social value accumulated over four decades by JC Motors would not have been wiped out, and other socially trading businesses like it would be protected.
COMMUNITY WEALTH
We asked the Mayor for support on Community Wealth building and are currently devising how to enable our members to trade with each other more easily and with anchor institutions such as local Councils, Universities and other civic groups. We are partnering with Hackney Wick Development Trust to deliver an event in October. Watch this space! We are also supporting anchor small businesses and founding members, E. Pellicci, Newmans Stationery and Oxford House, to establish a new Saturday market. Enabling affordable routes for entrepreneurship.
HOW OUR MANIFESTO ALIGNS WITH THE GOVERNMENT’S MOST RECENT POLICY OBJECTIVES
Here we have detailed how our plans align with central and local policy objectives and could have listed more that highlight the need for our London Trades Guild CLT, but given the significant time and money already invested in compiling them, we would prefer to work in partnership with local government to move forward with implementing them. If supported, our people’s manifesto pledges would be seen and felt by the local community in a meaningful way and would fulfil the Government’s objectives for “good growth” at every level. All our manifesto aims are in line with local and national policy. Today, we focus on our CLT:
- Central Government:
Labour’s core manifesto mission was to kickstart economic growth, and under this mission sits devolution, aiming to give more power to local areas. In Labour’s White Paper for English devolution, the government recommits to the Community Right to Buy that was announced in the King’s Speech, saying, “We will enhance protections for assets and high streets. We will continue to work in partnership with our most deprived communities to tackle their unique challenges. And we will look at the case for strengthening communities with greater rights to be involved in their local issues, as well as delivering a new community ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, such as empty shops, pubs and community spaces. This will empower local people to bring community spaces back into community ownership and end the blight of empty premises on our high streets”.
The New Small Business Strategy and Business Growth Service also reinforces this commitment to assets for local businesses, with new powers awarded to councils to fill empty premises blighting high streets.
- The Greater London Authority:
The Growth Plan for London was developed as part of the devolution strategy, the GLA surveyed 1,321 Londoners. Only 23% of respondents felt that London’s economy is fair. Deputy Mayor for Business, Howard Dawber, informed the Guild that the principles from our Manifesto for the New Economy have been fed into the London Growth Plan. The plan’s “Ambition for Inclusion” is to grow the incomes of underrepresented small business owners. Support local community businesses which provide vital local services and employ people close to home. The strategy for this is “Backing our Businesses”. Which promises to create an evidence-based Business Support Strategy, aligned to the new national Small Business Strategy and Business Growth Service.
- Transport for London:
TfL’s Sustainable Development Framework. Dimension #8 – Local Prosperity focuses on: routes to skilled employment for all Londoners, regardless of background;work placements; creating a home for businesses and organisations that struggle to find affordable space in London; supporting the resilience of local small businesses. Places for London – Commercial property arm of TfL:
Places for London has a Sustainability and Inclusivity Strategy – “for a greener, kinder and more connected London”. We are yet to see if they have met any of their objectives for 2025, and we cannot see any of their actions for 2024, completed. These include setting out their approach to deliver inclusive growth and social impact and making access and inclusion a focus of all developments, with input from access specialists from inception to buildings in use.
- London Borough of Hackney’s Draft Economic Development Plan:
“Research from UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity shows that several areas in Hackney are falling below a minimum standard of prosperity. Residents in large parts of the borough face multiple intersecting barriers, which are undermining their prosperity. Black Caribbean, Black African, Other Black groups, Turkish Kurdish and the Charedi community face specific inequalities in education, health, income, and employment.” P 10
“The protection of existing industrial space, commercial space, affordable workspace and the creation of new commercial space and affordable workspace continues to be a Council priority in this and other Council plans. In addition, the Council will use the opportunities provided via its designated industrial areas and regeneration sites to promote opportunities for new commercial space and for businesses to locate and grow in the borough, as well as working with landowners and businesses to support them to provide high quality and sustainable space for a wide range of businesses that contribute to the vibrancy and diversity of our town centres, high streets and communities” P14.
