championing Soho through board-level advocacy, partnership and action
background
Soho is one of London’s most distinctive neighbourhoods: a globally recognised centre for hospitality, nightlife, independent business, creativity, music and culture, but also a densely populated residential community with an extraordinary heritage.
The Soho Business Alliance (SBA) was established in 2020, emerging from the challenges faced by Soho businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has since developed into an influential representative body for the area’s independent traders, hospitality operators, creative businesses, property stakeholders and wider commercial community.
Its mission is clear: to provide a unified voice for Soho businesses; protect and grow the economic diversity of the area; work constructively with residents, amenity groups and Westminster City Council; and safeguard the unique character that makes Soho unlike anywhere else in London.
The SBA’s remit consequently extends well beyond traditional business networking. Its work encompasses licensing and planning policy, crime and policing, public realm, transport and accessibility, environmental issues, business support, employment, inclusivity, cultural preservation and the future of Soho’s evening and night-time economy.
Jackie Clode-Dickens, Co-Founder and Strategic Lead at DVO Group, serves on the volunteer Board of the Soho Business Alliance, bringing more than 25 years of commercial, marketing, hospitality and business development experience to the organisation.
Her role demonstrates another dimension of DVO’s philosophy: applying strategic thinking, stakeholder management and hands-on delivery not simply to individual businesses, but to the wider economic environment in which businesses need to thrive.
THE CHALLENGE
Protecting the future of Soho means navigating an unusually complex set of competing pressures.
Soho needs to remain commercially viable while preserving its independent character. It needs to be safe without losing the spontaneity and energy that make it internationally famous. It must balance the needs of residents with those of hospitality, retail, creative industries and the night-time economy.
At the same time, businesses face challenges including:
- High levels of crime and antisocial behaviour
- Licensing restrictions and the impact of core trading hours
- Some of the highest property and business-rate costs in the country
- Pressure on independent hospitality and cultural venues
- Changing working and visitor patterns following the pandemic
- Public-realm, waste, lighting and accessibility issues
- Planning and development pressures
- The need to balance residential amenity with a thriving evening and night-time economy
- The challenge of ensuring Soho remains competitive with other global city destinations
The SBA therefore has to do more than represent individual businesses.
It has to build credible relationships with policymakers, identify practical solutions, assemble evidence, navigate public-sector processes and turn the collective concerns of businesses into initiatives capable of achieving measurable change.
The APPROACH
Board-level leadership with practical delivery
Jackie’s contribution to the SBA combines strategic advocacy with hands-on project leadership.
Working alongside fellow Board members and Soho businesses, she engages with stakeholders including Westminster City Council, the Metropolitan Police, the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London’s teams and the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA).
The objective is to ensure the people who operate businesses in Soho have a credible and constructive voice in the decisions shaping the area — and, wherever possible, to turn that influence into practical action.
Delivering a safer Soho
One of the most significant projects Jackie has led on behalf of the SBA has been the development and Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) funding application for an expanded CCTV network across Soho.
Crime and antisocial behaviour have a direct impact on Soho’s businesses, affecting employees, customers, residents and visitors as well as confidence in the area as a destination.
Working collaboratively with Westminster City Council’s Public Protection & Licensing team, Jackie led the SBA’s work on the NCIL application to help create a properly monitored CCTV network across key areas of Soho.
The resulting joint application secured £309,403 of Soho Neighbourhood CIL funding, supporting 18 Westminster CCTV cameras positioned at identified crime hotspots, with the allocation funding revenue costs over a five-year period.
Importantly, the objective was about more than installing cameras. The network provides infrastructure capable of supporting active crime prevention and enforcement — helping authorities identify offenders, gather evidence and plan more effective operations.
For the SBA, it demonstrates what effective business representation can achieve: identifying a shared problem, building the case for intervention, navigating a complex funding process and working with public-sector partners to deliver a tangible solution.
Working with Westminster
Constructive engagement with Westminster City Council sits at the heart of the SBA’s work.
The Alliance contributes to consultations and discussions covering licensing, planning, crime, public realm, transport and the future of Westminster after dark.
The relationship is one of constructive challenge. Where policy supports Soho’s businesses and communities, the SBA works collaboratively with the Council. Where businesses believe proposals could damage Soho’s economic or cultural ecosystem, it provides evidence, operational insight and a strong collective voice.
The CCTV programme is a particularly strong example of that relationship moving beyond consultation into genuine joint delivery.
Championing Soho’s night-time economy
Soho’s restaurants, bars, clubs, theatres, music venues, cafés and late-night businesses are fundamental to both its economy and its international identity.
Through the SBA, Jackie contributes to the wider debate about how London operates after dark, including engagement with the Night Time Industries Association and the Greater London Authority around issues such as licensing, safety, transport and the development of a genuine 24-hour economy.
The aim is to connect the everyday commercial realities faced by Soho operators with the policymakers making decisions about London’s future.
Influencing the future of Soho
The SBA has also been active in discussions surrounding Oxford Street, pedestrian priority and the future of Soho’s public realm.
Rather than treating Oxford Street and Soho as separate destinations, the Alliance has argued that their futures are intrinsically linked. Improvements to Oxford Street create an opportunity to rethink how people move through the wider West End and how Soho’s independent restaurants, bars, shops, entertainment and cultural venues can complement one of London’s most important retail destinations.
The ambition is for a Soho that can compete with the great mixed-use entertainment districts of other global cities while retaining the independent businesses, heritage and human scale that make it unique.
Across all these initiatives, Jackie brings the same approach: understand the commercial reality, build the evidence, bring the right stakeholders together and turn advocacy into measurable action.
Client feedback
“Jackie has become an integral part of the Soho Business Alliance and the work we do on behalf of Soho’s businesses. She brings enormous energy, commercial experience and, importantly, the determination to turn ideas into action. Whether she is engaging with Westminster and other key stakeholders, championing Soho’s hospitality and night-time economy, or taking the lead on major initiatives such as our successful NCIL application for the new CCTV network, Jackie is someone who gets things done. Her ability to bring people together, navigate complex issues and keep pushing for a better, safer and more commercially sustainable Soho has made her an incredibly valuable member of the Board and an important part of the SBA’s continued success.”
Rupert Power
Chair, Soho Business Alliance