Arsenal parade: information for businesses

Parade details

See the parade route and event details on the Arsenal FC website.

We are expecting large crowds. If you plan to stay open, you may see increased footfall. If you prefer to avoid the busiest periods, consider closing earlier.

Deliveries

You will not be able to receive deliveries if your business is on the parade route, or on a road that leads to the route.

Check what roads will be closed and at what times.

You should arrange:

• non-essential deliveries for before the road closures
• essential deliveries for early morning or later in the evening

Street furniture (tables, chairs and signs)

To help us keep everyone safe, remove the following from the street on Sunday:

• tables and chairs
• signs
• items that could be climbed on

Preventing climbing at height

Businesses have legal responsibility to make sure any areas with a risk of falls from height are properly secured and managed. These include upstairs rooms, balconies, and accessible flat roofs to prevent unauthorised access, minimise the risk of falls, and avoid structural failure from overloading.

You must put appropriate measures in place including:

• secure barriers
• restricted access
• routine inspection and maintenance

This is in line with relevant health and safety legislation (including the Work at Height Regulations 2005). If you don’t, you may expose occupants and members of the public to significant harm. It may also result in enforcement action.

Travel for staff

Public transport will be much busier than usual so please discuss travel plans with your staff in advance. 

If your building is on or near the parade route, staff may take longer to get through crowds so you may want staff to arrive earlier than usual.

We strongly advise not bringing vehicles into Islington on Sunday 31 May. Road closures and additional parking restrictions will be in place from 4am.

If travel by car is unavoidable, allow extra time for your journey.

Check road closure and parking information.

For the latest public transport travel advice, visit Transport for London.

Rubbish and recycling collections

To help keep the borough clean, please do not put rubbish and recycling out for collection on Sunday 31 May if you are on or near the parade route.

Hospitality venues

Food and drink businesses along the route are likely to be very busy. You should:

• make sure you have enough stock before the day and consider increasing staff numbers if needed
• consider extra security or access controls if your business is on the parade route (people may enter your business to watch the parade)
• plan how you will manage toilet facilities if you have them (public toilets will be available as part of the parade but will be very busy)
• make sure you have enough pre-paid waste sacks or stickers to avoid enforcement action

If you are hosting an event on the day, advise the organiser to contact attendees to check how to reach the venue on the day and allow plenty of time.

Licensed premises

Licensed premises on and next to the parade route must only use plastic containers between midday and 5pm, regardless of whether this is a condition of your licence. This does not apply to seated diners.

You may want to use SIA-registered door supervisors during opening hours to manage crowds inside and outside your premises and help keep customers safe.

You should make sure that:

• experienced or senior management are on duty
• there will be sufficient staffing levels in place
• the Designated Premises Supervisor is present to authorise the sale of alcohol, where possible

External drinking areas

For premises with agreed external drinking areas:

• premises located on main thoroughfares should restrict use of outside areas to smoking only, within designated spaces and under SIA supervision
• alcohol must not be consumed outside licensed areas
• smoking areas should be clearly defined with appropriate barriers
• licence holders must ensure these areas do not cause unnecessary obstruction to the public highway
• SIA-registered staff must actively monitor external areas when in use

Responsible drinking

Make sure that:

• staff are trained and confident in refusing service to intoxicated individuals
• staff are vigilant to customer behaviour and report any disorder to police promptly
• any external areas are robustly managed at all times

Premises that can supply alcohol as off sales

In Islington, a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is in force under Part 4 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. This allows police or authorised officers to require individuals to stop drinking and surrender alcohol where their behaviour is causing, or is likely to cause, anti-social behaviour.

To help us deliver a safe event, we ask you to consider:

• no sales of alcohol in glass containers, to prevent injury from broken glass (this does not apply to regular customers who are not attending the area to celebrate on the street)
• no more than 4 cans or plastic bottles of beer, lager, or cider to be sold per individual
• no sales of beer, lager, or cider above 5.5% ABV during this period
• clear signage advising customers of the street drinking restrictions and reinforcing this message verbally where necessary
• being prepared to cease all alcohol sales if requested by a police officer
• avoiding stacking alcohol near entrance and exit points, and consider deploying additional staff or security to manage customer numbers

Other licensing requirements

Please review the other conditions of your premises licence, including making sure that:

• your CCTV system is fully operational and recording the correct date and time
• staff on duty are trained in the use and operation of the CCTV syste