Security guards in Wandsworth

Which parts of Wandsworth do we cover?

All of it, from the Thames at Battersea and Putney down to Tooting, Balham and Roehampton.

The borough’s shopping is spread across four Major town centres in the London Plan: Clapham Junction, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town. Balham, Earlsfield and Lavender Hill with Queenstown Road are District centres, providing everyday shops and services for their neighbourhoods.

On the river, Nine Elms and Battersea are part of the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea Opportunity Area, which Wandsworth shares with Lambeth and which has capacity for 18,500 homes and 18,500 jobs. The Northern line reached it in September 2021, with new stations at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station (TfL). Clapham Junction is an Opportunity Area in its own right, with room for 2,500 homes and 2,500 jobs around the station, and the plan sees potential for Battersea to become a retail cluster of the Central Activities Zone.

Industrial land sits in two Strategic Industrial Locations (London Plan): Queenstown Road in Battersea, and Garratt Business Park in Summerstown, which carries on into North Wimbledon across the Merton border. New Covent Garden Market’s fruit, vegetable and flower markets are at Nine Elms, in SW8.

Away from the river, the council is regenerating two large housing estates: Winstanley and York Road, next to Clapham Junction station, and the Alton Estate in Roehampton. Tooting has St George’s Hospital, one of London’s four major trauma centres, and the same NHS trust runs Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton (St George’s).

What needs guarding in Wandsworth?

Building sites. The council’s Winstanley and York Road scheme is planned to reach around 2,500 homes, and the Alton Estate in Roehampton is being rebuilt too. A site like either needs its gate run by day and guarding once the trades go home: see construction site security. Where lorries reverse in across a pavement, traffic marshals keep people on foot clear of them.

Residential blocks. If you manage a block in Nine Elms or Battersea with a front desk, our concierge officers can staff it, signing in visitors and contractors and taking in parcels. They’re SIA-licensed, so they can also decide who gets in.

Shops. Three of the Major centres have Business Improvement Districts: the Junction in Clapham Junction, Positively Putney and Wandsworth Town (Wandsworth Council). In any of the four centres, a uniformed retail security officer gives your shop floor a visible presence and backs up your staff.

Night trade and industrial units. New Covent Garden Market’s fruit and vegetable market opens for deliveries at 10pm, six nights a week, and the flower market opens at 4am, Monday to Saturday (New Covent Garden Market). At a unit or yard in Battersea or Summerstown, an officer can run the gate while vehicles come and go and patrol once it shuts: see warehouse and industrial security. Garratt Business Park has a BID of its own, so ask what it already covers.

What should you plan for in Wandsworth?

• Clapham Junction is crowded at peak times. The London Plan calls it Europe’s busiest rail interchange station and says it already runs at capacity. If your premises are near it, plan officers’ handovers and your deliveries away from the rush hours.
• Evenings out. The London Plan rates Clapham Junction’s night-time economy as regionally significant, and those of Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town as more than local. Door staff at a pub, bar or club need an SIA door supervisor licence (SIA).
• Parks and the river. Enable produces the Battersea Park Fireworks, Summer in Battersea Park and Battersea Park in Concert (Enable). The Boat Race starts from the Putney Embankment, a few metres west of Putney Bridge (The Boat Race). For an event of your own, see event security; for premises on the route, plan deliveries around race day.