Client Grow London Local

1 million small London businesses; one place to access support

Brand campaign
Context

London & Partners , the capital’s growth agency, asked us to help launch a new initiative created for London’s small businesses called Grow London Local.

 

Grow London Local is a flagship initiative created to give every small business in the capital a single point of access to expert support, funded by the UK Government and supported by the Mayor of London. They needed a strong launch campaign that would make every small business owner in London feel personally called to action.

 

Nalla created the concept, campaign identity, creative system, and channel strategy that made it happen and delivered measurable impact within the first 100 days.

Results after 100 days

+52000

website visitors within the first 100 days, starting from zero

2436

entrepreneurs supported in the first 100 days

+280

events delivered across London within the first 100 days

58

net promoter score achieved (rated as excellent after 12 months)
Discovery

The audience was broad, covering small business owners from hairdressers to hauliers. Some wouldn’t be digitally savvy; for others English might not be their first language.

 

Initial research revealed a number of insights:

  • The audience is time-poor; they lack the opportunity to actively search out information
  • There’s already masses of information for small businesses, but it is dispersed
  • There are just over one million SMEs in the capital.
  • The audience is wary of hidden costs masquerading as ‘free advice’.
  • Localisation and personalisation could boost the reach
B2P in action

Our B2P approach focused on creating one clear message for these ambitious but time-poor small business owners.

 

We saw that to appeal directly to this community, we needed a simple but memorable hook: ‘one million small businesses: one place to get advice’.

A billboard reads: Calling London’s 1 million small businesses. With a rebrand, there’s now one place to find all the support you’ll need to help grow your business. Orange birds fly right on a blue background.

Running your own small business can be tough; but being part of a like-minded community can be empowering

Small business owner Sheri
Community Larder Store
A person wearing a white shirt carries a dark tote bag with the text “I’m a London small business owner” and “growlondon.local” printed in bold letters with colourful arrow designs—a stylish accessory perfect for anyone embracing their business’s rebrand journey.
Grey tiled pavement with colourful arrow shapes painted in teal, orange, and purple, evoking a playful rebrand of an urban space. Two white trainers are visible at the bottom edge of the image, suggesting someone standing and looking down.
Solution

The existing chevron offered a distinctive starting point. By transforming it into an active, animated asset, the campaign could communicate the scale and energy of a large, engaged community across a wide range of activations. Rather than relying on familiar or clichéd photography, the idea was built around a clear, adaptable message that could be localised across key channels while maintaining a consistent campaign identity.

Three colourful digital cards invite small businesses in London, Southwark, and Camden, each featuring vibrant bird graphics alongside bold figures—1 million, 186,500, and 5,400 respectively. With a fresh rebrand reflected in their design, growlondon.local appears prominently at the bottom of each card.

The simplicity of the message ensures the campaign can roll out across a wide range of media; radio adverts, tailored social adverts, animated adverts, billboards, TV advertising and online banners.

A bus stop displays two posters: one reads Calling London’s 1 million small businesses; the other promotes business support, both with colourful bird graphics on a green background—inviting local entrepreneurs to explore opportunities for growth and rebrand.
A hand holds a smartphone displaying a social media advert that reads, Calling London’s 1 million small businesses, offering support in finance, training, sales, marketing, and more—including rebrand guidance—with a Learn more button visible.
A black pole with several colourful stickers, including a rainbow stormtrooper helmet, a blue hand making a peace sign, and three arrow shapes in purple, orange, and green—suggesting a playful rebrand spirit through its vibrant designs.
A digital rebrand guidelines document for Grow Local with teal backgrounds, text blocks, charts, icons, and photos of people, plants, and city scenes arranged in a grid format.

Nalla helped us to launch and strategically shape the Grow London Local product, ensuring it reached the local audience it was targeted at.

Feeroza Patel
Director of Communications
London & Partners

Special thanks to

  • Client team

    Feeroza Patel
    Trevor Summers
    Janet Coyle CBE

  • Project team

    Vicki Young
    Russell Holmes
    Harry Dipple
    Alice Saunders
    Kirsty Tavendale