People, Place and Power Together: Building the New Economy in 2026

End of year report by Director Krissie Nicolson. Reflecting on 2025 and what’s in store for 2026!

2025 was saturated with violence, division, and despair—reflected daily in our news and online spaces. Meanwhile our active members and partners are choosing solidarity.  We refuse to be passive witnesses to economic injustice. Our most meaningful response is to come together locally, building a culture rooted in mutual support, care, and collective action. When communities unite around a shared vision, we demonstrate our collective strength and become impossible to ignore—showing decision-makers what can be accomplished when people stand together to share their skills, knowledge and resources. This is how lasting change is made: we think globally, but we act locally, forging the partnerships and relationships that turn conviction into strategy, and strategy into real, transformative change.

Our strategy for 2026 is to build on progress made on our Manifesto for the New Economy, which was launched ahead of the last London Mayoral election in 2024. The manifesto is built around three interconnected proposals: securing a Community Land Trust (CLT) site, expanding Social Value Leases, and embedding community wealth building across the local economy. Together, these form a practical framework for long-term, community-led economic change.

The CLT site provides the physical foundation—land held in common for permanently affordable workspace and community use. Social Value Leases ensure that space supports businesses and organisations that deliver social, economic, and environmental value. Community wealth building then extends this impact, strengthening local supply chains, retaining value locally, and giving communities greater control over how wealth is created and shared.

Through growing partnerships, stronger networks, and increased funding for the CLT, we are making progress across all three areas. However, our impact is directly shaped by the size and strength of our membership. To meet the scale of the challenges ahead—and to leverage the next London Mayoral contest in 2028—we must significantly grow our base.

This is an incredible opportunity. If every member invited just two new people to join, and those who are able increased their membership contributions, we could secure a sustainable and independent funding model. That collective step-change would allow us to accelerate delivery of the manifesto, invest in the systems and processes needed to support membership growth, and demonstrate that our vision for a fairer economy is not only ambitious, but organised, funded, and backed by a growing movement.

We are proud to announce that the new partnerships forged in 2025 include the Footwork Trust, Platform Places, Stour Trust and Big Issue Invest.

Updates on Manifesto Priorities:

1. Community Land Trust: Unlocking land for community ownership

We are progressing our ambitions for our first site for the newly incorporated London Trades Guild CLT, in partnership with Stour Trust and backed by Footwork Trust and Big Issue Invest Power Up London. This is about transforming land into permanently affordable community-owned work and play space.

The CLT is now a fully registered Community Benefit Society. It is transitioning from early set-up and campaigning into active landowner engagement and site feasibility, including upcoming site visits with Royal Docks.

Since registration, significant progress has been made. This includes community organising that helped secure a recommitment from the Mayor of London to support site identification, ongoing accountability meetings with the Greater London Authority (GLA), and successful fundraising. Three funding applications have been written, resulting in £5,000 from Footwork Trust and £10,000 from Power Up London, with a further application pending. These resources have enabled the CLT to begin building a compliant organisational infrastructure.

Len and I completed Footwork Trust’s People and Place year-long programme and have begun participation in the Power Up London programme, both of which were proactively identified and secured to support the CLT’s development. Together, these programmes are strengthening leadership capacity, partnerships, and readiness for site development.

The campaign to stop Len’s eviction powerfully reinforced why a CLT is not optional — it is essential. The arches, formally home to JC Motors and Dunstan Garage, are still empty. The trauma imposed by market rents on communities is swept aside, and the ongoing emptiness of these buildings is both a blight on Hackney and a deeply felt loss to the community, who depended on Len as a Black leader, mentor and business owner. Communities need to see themselves reflected back to them on their streets. The young people walking past this building now see dereliction where there was once opportunity and aspiration.  Pictured below is Darnell, formally supported by JC Motors before the small business was forced out by TfL and PfL.

Thankfully, the backing, belief and recognition from Footwork Trust over the past 12 months has boosted morale and confidence, enabling meaningful conversations with landowners in Newham and the Royal Docks. Our first site visit is in the diary for 23rd January,  a major step forward and a great way to start the new year. Momentum is building!

Help drive and shape the London Trades Guild Community Land Trust — join now and take part in our first AGM. Join here!

Key milestones ahead for the clt in 2026:

• CLT Lease & Operations Roadmap, including legal incorporation of racial justice within CLT rules and leases
• Securing long-term revenue funding
• Securing a site
• Developing a site-specific business plan for capital funding and community share offer

2. Social Value Leases: Reimagining London’s Arches for Social Value

We are calling for Social Value Leases to be adopted across the Places for London (PfL) arches estate as part of a responsible and genuinely affordable workspace policy—one that embeds social value into the management of public assets.

Had such a policy been in place, JC Motors would not have been evicted, and Len Maloney’s arch would not have remained vacant since November 2024. Publicly owned assets should serve the public good, and prolonged vacancy represents a failure both of stewardship and social value retention.

In April this year, the London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee published the report Social value in planning and regeneration: Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. Alongside Latin Elephant and Wards Corner, the Guild gave evidence with members JC Motors and Tripspace Yoga & Dance included as case studies, illustrating the real-world consequences of the current approach to asset management. The report makes clear recommendations to both the Mayor of London and to PfL on embedding social value in planning and regeneration.

It is encouraging that PfL have now published an approach to social value, but are yet to see the details of how this translates into policy and practice. We will continue to push to see Social Value Leases taken up as policy.

Our position is clear: retaining existing social value through Social Value Leases as part of a responsible, affordable workspace policy is more cost-effective—and more equitable—than destroying it through short-term profit maximisation. While Places for London operates commercially, it remains wholly owned by a public body. With senior directors among the highest paid in the city, Londoners are entitled to expect timely delivery against stated commitments and a meaningful stewardship of public assets that shares decision-making with communities already operating from them.

3. Building real Community Wealth in East London

Together with Hackney Impact,  we aim to connect our members with public and private sector buyers and with each other. Our Meet the Members and Meet the Buyers programme, as part of the Hackney Impact Consortium, opens up procurement and creates real routes to opportunity.

Following the inaugural Meet the Members in October, our first Meet the Buyers event will take place on 28 January 10am–1pm (lunch included) and focuses on demystifying procurement for small businesses and social entrepreneurs wishing to supply councils and large businesses. If you are ready to build knowledge, skills and confidence to win contracts and contribute to community wealth building, this event is for you. This event is for small businesses and social enterprises with the capacity to deliver lower-value contracts ranging from £5,000 up to £125,000.

Register here now to confirm your place. Attendees are encouraged to register on the London Tenders Portal to make the most of the session.

We plan to roll out Meet the Buyers events across other boroughs, and our next Meet the Members in March will focus on female-led businesses and social enterprises, marking International Women’s Day.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2025

The start of 2025 marked a significant moment for the Guild, as we kicked off the People & Place programme, delivered by Footwork Trust. The programme came at a critical time — offering not just practical support, but belief, solidarity and strategic momentum after JC Motors’ eviction from Stean Street in Haggerston.

A key part of the programme was the mentorship of Juliet Can from Stour Trust, who came onboard to support Len and me. Juliet brings deep expertise and a long-standing commitment to community-led development. She is a Trustee of the European Community Land Trust Network, Co-Chair of Creative Estuary, Non-Executive Director of Acme, Insights Group Member for Footwork Trust, Board Member of London Community Land Trust, and co-founder of Patiko Bakers Fort Project.

Like the Guild, Juliet believes strongly in the collaborative economy and in building social capital within communities and businesses. A resident of Fish Island, Hackney Wick, who grew up in Stratford, she understands both the history and the pressure facing East London today.

Although the formal People & Place programme has now ended, Juliet and Stour Trust remain key partners in our vision for the London Trades Guild Community Land Trust (CLT).

As part of the programme, we visited five Community Land Trust projects across the country — Manchester, Wigan, Liverpool, Hastings and London — learning directly from fellow community asset developers, some of them having already achieved what we are working towards.

“We have made more connections with yet more beautiful people. I have met so many friends that we will continue to work with. We have grown our network and support base to make this thing happen!”
— Len Maloney

Events, Enterprise and Community Power

In 2025, we delivered more events than ever before, hosting local socials in kicking off in Walthamstow in January, followed by local meet-ups in Hackney and Tower Hamlets,  launching our new Meet the Members series at the intersection of all three boroughs at The Loop, Hackney Wick.

Guild member and leader Henrietta Cyrille also hosted regular women’s circles since February as part of our work with the Hackney Impact Consortium. At our October Meet the Members event, Tosan Tuoyo of OnyxDelta spoke powerfully about the result of this support:

“I would not have been able to get my idea off the ground without Henrietta’s support.”

BETHNAL GREEN’S SATURDAY MARKET PILOT!

In June, we returned to crowdfunding with founding members E. Pellicci Café, Oxford House and Newmans Stationery to launch the Bethnal Green Road Market Pilot, successfully running every Saturday from 1 November to 20 December.

This work directly reflects our vision for a New Economy — one where local people have a real say in how space is used, who it serves, and how it supports independent businesses, working-class communities and the cultural life of the East End.

We are laying the groundwork for a different kind of London — one where economic opportunity is shared, not extracted.

We are grateful to all the people who supported the market crowdfunder and to 1st City Van Hire, who sponsored the van that got our gazebos to the market. Big shout to Len, Sebastian and Ibrahim who set up and packed down the gazebos come rain or shine! We will consolidate our learning from this pilot and seek funding with a new business plan with the aim of returning to Bethnal Green in the summer.

Action, Advocacy and Visibility

EETG Consultancy for Refugee Buddy Project

During March, Krissie lent her crowdfunding expertise to The Refugee Buddy Project, supporting the launch of a new Safe Havens initiative. Politically non-partisan, Safe Havens brings together people of all faiths and none — local shops, small businesses, neighbours and community groups — to create a visible network of care and protection for people feeling vulnerable or intimidated due to the rise of the far right.

Each Safe Haven undertakes training to understand how to offer a safe space and how to recognise and respond to racism, harassment or discrimination. Thanks to the success of the pilot and strong funder relationships that TRBP holds, the project is now recruiting for a locally based Community Organiser.

EETG on the BBC

March also saw increased national visibility for the Guild. I appeared on BBC London with Aaron Paul as part of the 40 Years of EastEnders celebrations, a broadcast initiated with Guild founding members E. Pellicci Café.

Later the same day, I appeared on BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours, speaking about the crisis facing businesses in railway arches owned by Arch Co, alongside Chris Hill from Guardians of the Arches. The campaign — born in London Fields by Derec Hickman and the Chu family of Chu’s Garage — continues to highlight the human cost of extractive property practices. You can listen here at 18.28. 

Holding the Mayor to Account

The Guild has continued to hold the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Business accountable in response to Guiliana Majo’s  (Tripspace Yoga & Dance) reminder to Sadiq Khan at the People’s Question time of his outstanding commitment to help the Guild identify a site in December 2024. This work is relentless and often exhausting. With the support of Footwork Trust and Big Issue Invest’s Power Up London, we are building the capacity to sustain this momentum.

There have been frustrating conversations and some dead ends, but we have followed up every lead, pushed every suggestion, and stayed at the table. We genuinely feel that we are finally making meaningful progress with the site for the CLT.

This progress belongs to all our members, partners and supporters — and we offer our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to everyone who has played a part in this journey, especially the active members and leaders whose commitment, time, resources and energy have powered our achievements.

But with the dominant system stacked against us, this work is difficult and often slow. To meet the challenges ahead, we need to grow our collective strength. Can you help us double our membership? Speak to your neighbours, colleagues and networks about the Guild, and help us build the collective strength we need to go further — creating the systems and processes that enable new members to participate, lead and thrive. Together, we can shape a more just, inclusive and prosperous London for all.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!