Welcome from Matt Carpen, Managing Director at Barking Riverside Ltd

Hello, and welcome to our latest stakeholder newsletter. We are now well into 2022, and it is set to be a busy and exciting year ahead. The BRL team is already focused on delivering some of the most significant milestones of the entire project, all taking shape in 2022.

This year marks the opening of two hugely significant pieces of infrastructure for Barking Riverside – the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers pier, opened this month, and the Barking Riverside London Overground station, due in the Autumn. We have been working closely with our partners to ensure construction remains on track, and to plan several events to promote these fantastic new services, which will literally put Barking Riverside on the map.

As you will see as you read on, it is not just transport milestones we have been hitting. Our team is continuing to bring a number of land sales forward. Planning consent has been achieved on new plots across Barking Riverside, delivering more essential homes for Londoners.

An exciting first for Barking Riverside, our Placemaking and Communications team launched a new brand campaign to the London market earlier this year. The vibrant campaign featured images of real residents, which were displayed in train and tube stations across the capital, supported by an extensive digital campaign. The response has been excellent, and you will be able to see how the campaign has performed and what it has achieved later in this newsletter. We are also pleased that the campaign has supported our plot developer partners in generating leads for the sale of new homes.

A project that has required lots of input from both myself and the wider team, the Learning Forum has completed an 18-month process to reach final recommendations for the future of Barking Riverside’s Community Interest Company, the legacy company that will eventually own and manage the public areas at Barking Riverside for community benefit. We are immensely proud of the investment we have put into this resident-led process so far, and we look forward to the CIC starting to have an impact this year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners, colleagues and friends for their continued support. We look forward to seeing many of you in person at our exciting new openings in 2022.