We were delighted that our work for Croydon Business Improvement District (BID), including their loyalty card scheme, was featured in Design Week magazine recently. The online publication is a stalwart supporter of the design industry and a go-to resource for most designers, providing insights into what’s new and current in the field.
We spoke to Clare Dowdy, senior writer at Design Week Magazine (whose writing background includes Wallpaper, Monocle and BBC.com), along with our client Matthew Sims, CEO at Croydon BID, to ensure the story was corroborated from both sides.
How organisations can benefit from good design
The article was of particular interest to Design Week as it demonstrated how good design working in partnership and collaboratively with a client could be utilised to help an organisation in many ways, whether that’s changing a perception, improving visibility, or, in this instance, helping to increase footfall, visitor numbers, and sales on the high street.
Making a connection with the public through the use of humour
All 330 BIDs across the UK face their own individual challenges, and Croydon BID has more challenges than most, both socially and economically. This particular article was about the launch of its loyalty card scheme called ‘Check out Croydon’. Working in collaboration with Matt and his team, we made a conscious effort to use humour and witty copy lines in an attempt to strike a chord with the public on an emotional level.
Design as a ‘force for good’.
A lot of Design Week articles tend to focus on design and design aesthetics. We particularly liked how this article focused more on the valuable role that design can play as either a ‘force for good’ or providing ‘business benefit’, which ties in with a lot of our work over the last few years. Read the whole Design Week article here
Extract from Simon’s LinkedIn article: Why Croydon matters now
• Croydon is one of London’s largest and most important town centres – well-connected, with 140,000 daily visitors, over 1,000 trains passing daily, and 15-minute links to both central London and Gatwick, great for me with our office in London Bridge Croydon Council.
• It plays a vital role in the region’s logistics and housing growth strategy – delivering 14,500 homes by 2041 and supporting the £265m-attributed Gatwick Airport economic impact (and over 3,600 jobs locally) Croydon Council.
• A new £30 million growth plan, unveiled June 2025, sets the stage for a cultural, creative-led revival — aligned with the Mayor’s broader growth strategy and backed by over £1 billion in public-private investment. Real Asset Insight
• The long-anticipated redevelopment of the Whitgift and Centrale sites is back on track under URW’s masterplan — aiming to deliver mixed-use regeneration with homes, public realm and improved connectivity. Construction is expected to begin around 2028. LondonWorldThe Sun
• In 2024, micro-business growth here was up 24%, outpacing Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. Real Asset InsightWikipedia
• This is all further supported by our colleagues at Evaluate Locate and their GeoSpatial Predictor and proprietary algorithms. They shared the chart below with us which shows that the town is currently outperforming the South East and UK in terms of Economic Momentum, and is also doing well in terms of other key metrics (also see screen grab of report). EvaluateLocate.com
What design brings to the table
In high-density, mixed-use areas like Croydon, thoughtful design does more than look good — it creates clarity, drives footfall, supports community cohesion and boosts commercial performance. The Checkout Croydon scheme embodies that — building an accessible, engaging platform for residents, workers and visitors to celebrate and support local businesses.
You can read Simon’s full LinkedIn article here
Thank you design week and Croydon BID
Thank you Clare Dowdy at Design Week for shining a light on the project. And a huge thank-you to Croydon BID for your vision, collaboration and commitment to bringing creative design to Croydon’s revitalisation.