It was devastating to see Chiltern Street’s most famous resident, the celebrity and fashion-crowd favourite Chiltern Firehouse, up in flames. It’s an iconic destination that will leave a hole in London’s hospitality scene while it is closed.

But while the hotel has been the setting for the headlines, there is so much more to Chiltern Street than Firehouse. It’s a haven for independent brands, creative collaborations and coveted pop ups. So in the wake of the blaze, we want to shine a light on the other incredible businesses that call this beautiful street home.

Chiltern street gets its name from the Grand Central Railway route to the Chiltern Hills which ran into Marylebone station. The stunning Victorian gothic architecture of the red brick period buildings make it one of the prettiest roads in the West End, with tourists eagerly snapping away to brag about the hidden gem they’ve discovered just a stone’s throw from Oxford Street. Owned and managed by the Portman Estate, its also part of the first London estate to achieve B Corp certification for its commitment to social and environmental performance and transparency.

Over recent years, Chiltern street  – which is now fully let – has become a sought after location for independent creative retailers. This is the shopping destination for those who don’t want the same as everybody else. Cult Danish retailer Anna and Nina are the latest to snap up space, with their new store coming to number 54 next month. The Street has a particularly strong menswear offering –  Oliver Spencer, Trunk Clothiers, John Simmonds and Sunspel to name a few – but the retail offer here is wide, with a tenant mix that includes Monc eyewear, Cire Trudoin’s luxurious candles and Sabre Paris’s iconic cutlery collection.

How has Chiltern Street become a haven for innovative independent retailers?

Bruce Gillingham Pollard’s London Retail team have worked with Portman Estates to curate Chiltern Street’s renowned ecosystem of likeminded luxury operators since 2022. The established presence of other creative boutiques and status as an independent retail hub makes it an appealing prospect for an innovative independent brand looking to build a connection with consumers. “The tenant mix on Chiltern is unique, ”says Lizzie, London Retail Director.  “Some of our operators are internationally established brands such as Sabre Paris and Jacques Marie Mage who want their first – and often only –  London store within a sought after, quintessentially English setting. The British brands are drawn to the creative boutique hub and are attracted to this location as they favour building their business with loyal and repeat customers.”

Then there’s the aspirational, style conscious groups that come to the area to shop, with ’Prosperous professionals’ and ‘Up and Coming Urbanites’ forming two of the key Acorn groups within the area’s footfall – more than 15% higher than other streets in the surrounding area.

The incredible architecture and desirable location of Chiltern Street has also made it a target for pop ups and collaborations. Global beauty sensation Rhode opened its first London pop up on Chiltern Street last summer, with trending clips on TikTok scanning the five hour queues. Then there was the Monocle X Gucci pop up; cue another TikTok moment, as crowds rushed to witness the iconic coffee spot’s fashion makeover and bag one of those Gucci X Monocle cups in Ancora – the shade of Gucci’s new collection.

Brand collaborations are a recurring theme. Recently, Grandiosa X Cult Gaia brought customers into the artisan florist to experience the new fragrance, while neighbours Howmatcha offered a limited edition Cult Gaia matcha in honour of the occasion. Monc, another longtime resident, launched a collaboration with Monocle to create the Chiltern Monocle, a limited edition frame inspired by the street. These partnerships keep Chiltern Street firmly on the socials, maintaining footfall and building its reputation as a creative hub.

“The pop up/collab brand gets visibility from the location and great content for their socials, whilst the street benefits from a new customer coming into the area, such as last summer’s Rhode pop up,” says Lizzie. “It’s great to see Chiltern Street build a reputation as the home of cool brand collaborations.”

Firehouse is closed while for the refit, but Chiltern Street’s F&B offer remains strong, with Monocle Cafe, Chiltern Street Deli and newly opened Avo Bar fulfilling the tastes of the local residential, office and shopper catchment.

The street’s strong identity is an inspiring example of how an innovative tenant mix – underpinned by a strong sense of community and creative culture – can withstand a momentary interlude from it’s anchor.

Victoria Street has experienced a metamorphosis in recent years. Take a wander down there today and you’ll discover a bustling hub of restaurants and bars, packed in among some of the capitals most in-demand ‘competitive socialising’ venues.  Recent crowd -drawing openings include Lane 7 and The Alchemist, joining the likes of Stix and Sushi, Timmy Green and Casa da Frango.Victoria Street’s position as one of the capital’s major social hubs will be cemented with this week’s first UK opening of the luxurious Parisian entertainment group BAM Karaoke Box. Housed in an incredible 10,000 square foot site with 22 private karaoke rooms, food from renowned chef Sabrina Gilda (ex Dorchester) and the uber-cool Bam Bam Bar, BAM is set to raise the bar not just for entertainment, but the whole hospitality and leisure scene in Victoria.

So how has Victoria Street transformed into a target for the world’s most innovative hospitality and leisure operators in the space of a few years?

The first major driver of change has come from an evolving office space landscape. According to the latest London Markets report, serviced offices account for 169,340 square foot in Victoria. But the occupancy of these offices has developed – once almost exclusively the home of civil servants, the area now hosts professional service companies and brands ranging from Bloomberg to Burberry. These businesses and their well paid staff represent a lot of valuable footfall – a fact not missed by hospitality and leisure brands.

Another key development for Victoria over the past 5 years has been transport. The £700 million Victoria Station Upgrade has improved links and ease navigating the area, with 45 million taps annually (April 2022-Mar 2023). With three tube lines, lots of bus routes and a revamped busy national station hosting the Gatwick Express, SW1 can now legitimately claim to be one of the best connected areas of London.

The shift in shopping patterns seen across London has also played a key role in the area’s changing dynamic. The demise of House of Fraser and closure of major fashion retailers in Victoria such as Hugo Boss are representative of the changing landscape for London’s retail picture – and highlight the potential opportunity for F&B and leisure.

We have managed Victoria Street for our client Landsec over the past decade. The launch of Nova  – the mixed use, three building development occupying the island site opposite Victoria station – in 2017 kick started the area’s F&B transformation, with The Rail House Café, Sticks n Sushi and Greenwood among the first lettings to draw the crowds.  A further vote of confidence came in the shape of The Ivy, which took over the former Jamie’s Italian site further down Victoria Street. High confidence in the wider area is also evident from Grosvenor’s reimagining of Belgravia and Buckingham Palace Road, and more recent investment from GAW Capital. But from a leisure perspective, it was the arrival and subsequent huge success of Flight Club in 2019 that provided the major endorsement to leisure brands looking for a central London location.

So where has this evolution left SW1?  Today, Victoria Street and the entire Nova development is fully let to a variety of premium leisure and hospitality operators. Lane 7 have opened with great success in the site adjacent to BAM, creating a footfall-driving entertainment hub. This – along with upcoming hospitality opportunities from the Portland House and Nova 2 redevelopment – make it clear that Victoria has a secure future as one of London’s top leisure and F&B destinations.

Charlotte Roberts is Head of London Retail at Bruce Gillingham Pollard.

Burger and Sauce has opened in the newly refurbished Food Terrace at Derbion Shopping Centre, Derby.

The brand prides itself on offering great value to its customers, without any compromises to the quality of food products on offer. Burger and Sauce was named the winner of Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year 2022 for the Midlands.

This is the 9th Burger and Sauce store to open in the UK and is a fantastic addition to the Food Terrace at Derbion.  Victoria Broadhead secured the letting.

For all Derbion F&B enquiries, please contact Victoria Broadhead or Alex Todd.

BGP is active across Retail Capital Markets and most recently advised The Ardent Companies UK on its acquisition of the retail element in the landmark Royal Exchange building in the City of London.

Commenting on the appointment, BGP’s Managing Director, Tracey Pollard said: “Jack joined us a graduate in 2012 and it’s been a pleasure to watch his career progress. He has a brilliant work ethic and a strong track record of unlocking complex and lucrative transactions. His varied client base has broadened our Investment instructions, and he is now leading a well-known, well-connected, respected and talented team who are capitalising on current market conditions”.

Other notable London transactions have seen the team advise on the £70m purchase of One Tower Bridge for Redevco, the purchase of Brixton Market on behalf of Hondo Enterprises and Angelo Gordon for £40m, and the £34m acquisition of the Lever Building in London for Merseyside Pension Fund.

Jack Barratt said: “I’m relishing the prospect of leading the team at this time and working towards our next stage of growth.

“The current market provides significant transactional opportunity, and our market leading leasing team help underpin any occupational advice for active asset management and taking advantage of any short to longer term strategies.”

Bruce Gillingham Pollard has appointed Lucy Gardiner as an Associate in its National Leasing Team.

Lucy has 10 years of experience across the F&B market and a wide range of knowledge across the UK and excellent relationships with key landlords and brands. These relationships will be vital in her new role working on our LandSec instruction which covers the whole of its UK hospitality portfolio.

Lucy commented: “BGP is a progressive and expanding business. I’m very much looking forward to working with the team and particularly on the Landsec portfolio which has such reach, variety and quality”.

We are pleased to have worked alongside our client, Grosvenor to bring Edward Bulmer Natural Paint to Pimlico Road Design District.

The design world’s ‘go to’ eco friendly paint brand, pioneering plant based paints made from raw materials reducing the effects on buildings, health, nature and the planet! Their sustainability credentials and brand ethos seamlessly compliment that of existing retailers on the estate that Grosvenor have chosen to partner with, curating a unique and internationally renowned tenant mix.

Edward Bulmer will sit alongside a number of existing brands on the estate including Pinch, Chelsea Textiles, Fermoie, Cox and many more homeware, interior and fabric brands.

The addition of Edward Bulmer Paints paves the way for forthcoming opening of Newson’s Yard which we are super excited about! Newson’s Yard will bring an eclectic mix of new interior brands who will open later this year within the development…

This is an extremely exciting time for the Estate and Pimlico Road Design District and one which we are hugely proud to be part of.

Charlotte Roberts acted on behalf of Grosvenor in securing this letting and Tom Pain acted on behalf of the tenant.

This week we launched the marketing of the retail and F&B at Piccadilly Lights. An iconic London building with flagship retail, a rooftop and other restaurant / bar opportunities wrapping around the globally recognised digital advertising space.

For further information, please contact Woody Bruce, Charlotte Roberts or Lucy Cope.