Wetherell

The next 25 years. Major changes take a long time. Take Crossrail, for instance. First mooted in the 1980s, it was rejected by the government in 1994, the business case was reviewed in 2003 and, even if the Crossrail Bill now runs smoothly through Parliament, it will be 2015 before any part of it is opened. A baby born when Crossrail was first dreamed up will probably be married with kids of her own by the time it opens – if it ever does.

So, big changes happen slowly. But that said, there is more impetus for change in the West End in 2007 than there has probably been since Sir Richard Grosvenor secured a licence to develop the fields on which Mayfair now sits so elegantly. The underlying issue is the continuing health of the London economy, and in particular the economy of the West End. This is not to be dismissed lightly: £5.5 billion a year is generated in retail sales alone in the West End. Add to that the contribution made by the hotels, the hedge and private equity funds and other wealth managers, the property and media companies, tailors and restaurants and it’s easy to see why the protection and development of the business economy in the West End attracts so much attention.

Improvement is the order of the day. The streets are cluttered. Signage is poor. There’s too much traffic. There are too many buses. And the nearest mainline railway station is a taxi ride away. There is evidence that the West End has lost some of its competitive edge.

As a result, a Business Improvement District (BID), centred on Regent Street, Bond Street and Oxford Street, has been established, and is overseen by The New West End Company – which was voted in by local businesses. Importantly, the New West End Company brings together nearly all of the major landowners: the first step in developing an overall strategy. The Mayor of London has set up a West End Central Retail Area Planning & Development Commission (usually known as the West End Commission) to provide advice and analysis to inform the London Plan – the statutory planning framework that will govern development in London for decades. Objective 3 in the London Plan is "to make London a more prosperous city with strong and diverse economic growth". The landed estates are all active. The Crown is investing £500 million in the redevelopment and repositioning of Regent Street. Grosvenor has commissioned the world-famous architect Jan Gehl to develop strategies for improving the public realm in Mayfair. Both are represented on the BID, along with The Portman and Howard de Walden estates north of Oxford Street. Meanwhile, Westminster Council – as part of its unitary development plan – is encouraging the return to residential of former homes in Mayfair now used as offices. Grosvenor is using "use swaps" to develop quality commercial property in the east of the district and return buildings in the west to their original residential use. And then there are the Olympics in 2012 and Crossrail, both of which are controversial and both of which will have an impact one way or another.