Regent Street Masterplan, Connected TV, London links... in no particular order.
How do we redevelop the premium retail heart of a global city? The dissolving/merging business models in Connected TV and Streaming. Some links and Tsonduku. All in no particular order...
Regent Street Public Realm Masterplan: A Complex Interplay of Power, Politics, and Urban Transformation
A London-centred post this week. I’m working on our new Paris store tour (so mulling over the impact of Haussmann’s urban remodelling free hand in the 19th century1) and then saw that London’s overly-hot pavements are entering a major consultation. Hot on the heels of changes to Oxford Street (the main east-west shopping drag in London’s West End), the far more prestigious ‘luxury and heritage flagship corridor’ along Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus was unveiled. I thought I’d quickly look at the runners and riders in this, and what it says about today and tomorrow’s physical shopping. For non-Londoners, I risk being one of those hyperlocal people throwing out Monopoly board names, so I’ll try to give a more global context - call me out if I fail or if there’s UK jargon I miss :)
The Masterplan
The Regent Street, Haymarket and Piccadilly Circus public realm masterplan represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the heart of London's West End. Westminster City Council and The Crown Estate launched a public consultation on July 3, 2025, running until August 10, 20252, seeking views on ambitious proposals that would create over 35,000 square metres of new public space.
The masterplan encompasses 10 Transformative Moves across the area, with headline proposals including making Regent Street St James's completely traffic-free, expanding pedestrian space at Piccadilly Circus, and introducing safer cycling routes from All Souls' Church to Piccadilly Circus. The project aspires to reimagine John Nash's original 200-year-old vision of connecting St James's Park to Regent's Park through a green corridor in the heart of the West End. So, consider all of the eco, enviro, conservation tick boxes duly ticked. ✅
The Governance Triangle: Westminster, Crown Estate, and Mayoral Power
The project reveals a complex governance arrangement between three key players, each with distinct roles and powers:
Westminster City Council's Role
Westminster City Council serves as the local highways authority responsible for managing the public realm and streets in the West End. The council has statutory obligations for highway safety and must approve all highway schemes at each design stage. As the democratically elected local authority, Westminster has traditionally held primary responsibility for planning decisions affecting its residents, with 12,000 people calling the West End home. However, as we’ll see below, the Mayor’s grand-design powers threaten to shift the energy to that office, and so it appears to me that Westminster is getting out of the blocks quickly to set the agenda. The council had historically been a Conservative stronghold, but has been under Labour control (the same party as the London Mayor) since 2022. However, this has not made them automatic and enthusiastic partners to date.
The Crown Estate's Position
The Crown Estate acts as the main landowner and custodian of buildings on Regent Street, covering the area from All Souls Church to Waterloo Place, with significant ownership on Haymarket and Piccadilly Circus. As one of the major development players in Westminster, The Crown Estate has submitted nearly 200 planning applications over the past five years and holds nearly 1,000 listed buildings, with 94% falling within conservation areas.
The Mayor's Expanding Powers
The political landscape has been fundamentally altered by Mayor Sadiq Khan's successful acquisition of new planning powers through the Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) mechanism. In June 2025, Khan confirmed his intention to establish an MDC for Oxford Street by January 1, 2026 (after many years of battles on planning permission between the City, the Mayor and the national UK Government). It’s reasonable to imagine that the Regent Street corridor might have been the next area for mayoral focus…
Political Dynamics and Timing
The timing of these developments reflects broader shifts in London's governance structure and political landscape:
The Oxford Street Precedent
The Mayor's success in securing planning powers for Oxford Street has created a significant precedent. Following extensive consultation that attracted 6,642 responses, with 67% supporting pedestrianisation and 69% supporting the MDC creation, Khan moved forward despite Westminster Council's opposition3. The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, backed the proposals, marking a significant shift from the previous Conservative government's approach.
Westminster's Evolving Response
Westminster City Council's position has evolved from outright opposition to pragmatic cooperation. Council Leader Adam Hug acknowledged that while the Mayor's decision "was not the council's preferred outcome," it was "important for Oxford Street's future to move forward together"4.
The Crown Estate's Strategic Positioning
The Crown Estate has positioned itself as a collaborative partner in these developments, working closely with both Westminster Council and the GLA to ensure proposals deliver benefits across all stakeholders. This strategic positioning allows The Crown Estate to advance its development ambitions while maintaining positive relationships with all governmental levels. Plus, its view on the world is ‘dynastic’: as the management body for the property (land, the seabed!) of the reigning monarch, they have one of the longest-term views imaginable ;)
The Politics of Place-Making
The broader political context reveals several important dynamics:
Democratic Accountability vs. Strategic Vision
The tension between local democratic accountability and strategic city-wide vision is central to these developments. Critics argue that the MDC approach represents a "power grab" that undermines local democracy by transferring planning powers to Mayoral appointees5. However, supporters contend that strategic intervention is necessary to deliver transformational change that benefits London as a whole6.
Labour vs. Labour Tensions
The unusual situation of Labour Mayor Khan taking powers from Labour-controlled Westminster Council has created "red on red" political tensions. This reflects broader questions about the appropriate level of governance for major infrastructure decisions in central London7.
Economic Imperatives
The economic argument for intervention has strengthened post-pandemic, with the West End generating 3% of the UK's economic output (per The New West End Company). The government's support for these interventions reflects recognition of the strategic importance of London's retail and tourism sectors to national economic recovery.
Implementation Timeline and Next Steps
The masterplan faces a complex implementation pathway:
Immediate Phase (2025)
Public consultation concludes August 10, 2025
Design team appointed to progress detailed proposals
Oxford Street MDC establishment by January 1, 2026
Medium-term Development (2026-2027)
Westminster and Crown Estate budget approval for construction and management
Detailed design phase to begin following proposal approval
Further public consultation on final proposals
Long-term Delivery (2027 onwards)
The construction phase, subject to funding and approvals
Coordination with Oxford Street pedestrianisation to ensure complementary benefits
Even if we add several years to these outlines, we can see a significant programme that will impact tourists, retailers, services and residents, with groundbreak and impact before 2030.
Thoughts
The Regent Street masterplan consultation represents more than a public realm improvement project – it is a moment to imagine the commercial and tourist experience of a global city. It’s a generational project. All parties' being actively engaged and sharing notes of positivity (against the legal realities of the MDC mechanism) is also a positive sign.
The project's success will depend on maintaining this collaborative approach while addressing legitimate concerns about democratic accountability and local community needs. As London looks to move from being “a” global city to the global city, the Regent Street masterplan may well become a template for how major place-making initiatives can be delivered.
In future newsletters and podcasts, I’ll explore ‘placemaking’ and whether it’s a faddish term or a genuine improvement on the urban development horrors of the recent past. We need to do more than ‘balance’ the needs of residents, businesses, and tourism - we need to inspire, elevate, and reimagine.
What are your thoughts on the Masterplan? Would you like to chat about your views, placemaking in general or your experience? Please share.
Connected TV (CTV) and streaming: melting business models
Disney+ and ITVX have announced that they are exchanging shows with each other, making previously paid-for content available to each other’s subscribers8. An outbreak of generosity? A merger? Nope - just a melting business model in front of our eyes.
A step back. TV used to sit alone. It was hard. Making TV was tough, paying to commission it was difficult and expensive, and then playout involved building signal towers and washing the land in UHF radio waves. There was no overlap with other channels (the analogue barrier) and the business model was also unique: create content, attract viewers (measured with a finger in the air), charge advertisers, claim success, repeat. The growth of digital TV (digital distribution and signal) over cables and satellites onto “smart decoding boxes” allowed subscribers to be tracked, and opened a subscription revenue model. However, the ‘closed digital’ world of the noughties is being replaced by a seamless, streaming digital-everywhere present. In this world, viewing habits, personal data and off-site web browsing can all be tracked and related. If we now bring in the parallel explosion of “retail media” (personalised performance marketing made possible by ad exchanges, buying and tracking capabilities off first party data), then we have the power of personalised, cross-device, cross-channel, performance-trackable advertising that now includes TV screens, iPads, digital bus stop signs, tills and in-store.
In short, it combines performance marketing, omni-devices, retail media - and a bonfire of business models.
There are fine words about content, the consumer etc etc, but the key point for me is that each company will sell the ad inventory around the shows they get from their partner. It’s about the ad revenue. More bait, more fish.
The PR-approved comments were: “This mutually beneficial alliance allows us to show our complementary audiences a specially selected collection of titles” (Kevin Lygo, the managing director of media and entertainment at ITV). “For us, this deal means even more great content for viewers on ITVX, and even more opportunities for viewers to find and enjoy our distinctive titles and services.”
What’s a channel, Daddy?
The partnership is a starter for further syndication tie-ups. Disney and ITV span the Atlantic. Neither are dominant players in their own markets (hello Netflix), so this is a quick way to leverage their content jewels to get a bigger share of eyeball time.
As they do this, however, we can see Apple TV+ becoming the aggregator for the mess/mish-mash of channels. It already sits over all of my paid services, makes suggestions, streams on every device, and no doubt monetises me to the max. If ITVX is to become a belated “streaming home for the UK” then it will need to dislodge Apple TV+, Netflix and others. In the meantime, it can make more money by selling more ads against more content from partners.
However, what does it mean to be “a channel” now and next? The pillars are: content creation and commissioning (or archive ownership, Disney!); subscription sales; ad sales; share of eyeballs. Perhaps there’s something about being distinctive in there, too?
I don’t think that any of these pillars is dominant, but each will have a moment. I’m wondering what the next ‘natural organisation’ of
individual views
+individual ads
+Individual programmes?
Is it a “channel”?
Tell me your thoughts - as a channel owner, customer-focused advertiser, programme-maker, strategist. I’d love to get your perspective. Being selfish, we’re programming our first ever CTV event (the CTV, OTT and Streaming Summit on 19 November in London). All challenges and ideas welcome!
Tsonduku
Tsundoku (積ん読) is the phenomenon of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them. Staying with my London focus this week…
A look at the future of the City of London’s fish and meat markets after relocation plans fall apart. Sadly, the anciet markets (established by acts of parliament) have now closed so we have a “limbo” situation that is a threat to London’s quality fresh flesh purveyors. Worth a read and a think, especially in light of the west end Masterplan. How can we retain the best of the old while creating new opportunities.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/24/east-end-fishmongers-billingsgate-smithfield-ancient-marketsEnough with the urban development, get back to TV! OK, I hear you. How about “The best murder-mystery movies of all-time to test your sleuthing skills to the max” from Time Out? I realise I’ve only seen 12 of the 40, so time to head off with my first party data to see what CTV ads I’ll get served…
https://www.timeout.com/film/40-murder-mystery-movies-to-test-your-sleuthing-skills-to-the-max
Endmatter
Thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any feedback, suggestions for topics, or even contributions. In between newsletters, there is LinkedIn and Instagram, and of course, the RetailCraft podcast and RetailX analysis.
A la prochaine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris
https://futureofregentstreet.commonplace.is/
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2025-06-17/sir-sadiq-khan-to-pedestrianise-oxford-street-as-quickly-as-possible
https://www.westminsterlabour.org.uk/issues/2025/06/17/june_oxford_street/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27rn5d02po
https://www.newwestend.com/news/oxford-street-programme-update-september-2024/
https://www.onlondon.co.uk/oxford-street-who-should-be-in-charge/