Understanding Waterloo better through the Power of Data

WeAreWaterloo are pleased to announce that we have been accepted onto the High Streets Data Service Incubator Programme. In collaboration with the Greater London Authority, this project will aim to tap into the London Datastore and evaluate what drives visitors to businesses within our popular destination of Waterloo. This will enable us as your Business Improvement District to better serve our members and our catchment area to make it the best it can be!

The London Datastore will provide access to many different types of statistics including footfall, traffic, and spend which we can breakdown to gain a deeper understanding of our visitors and the surrounding area.

Through this partnership, we aim to answer if we should extend the Lower Marsh Market to Saturdays where it can be enjoyed by everyone beyond the typical working week.  The London Datastore will enable us to gain deeper insights into other questions such as: What types of businesses are visitors interested in? Where do people like to spend their time and money in Waterloo? Where do most of the visitors originate from?

To enhance our placemaking and provide an excellent service for our levy members, we will look at the link between the market and the benefit to surrounding businesses to evaluate the success of Lower Marsh market post pandemic. To build the market into something better, we may examine other popular market destinations across London to identify what’s driven their successes and failures. This will enable our team to provide a better range of services with data driven decision making leading to more visitors in Waterloo.

Moving forward Zan, our Marketing and Projects Officer will be working closely with the HSDS Programme to turn this complex conundrum into something simpler and more shareable for all those interested. We kick off the programme this week with an introductory session, followed by weekly sessions with a specialist mentor to keep the project moving. A mid-point check in is due on 1 November with a final report and presentation into our research tentatively scheduled for 14 December at City Hall.

We hope to share more updates with you soon as we begin to uncover the secrets of what makes Waterloo thrive and what can be done to take it to the next level!