A business conservation area is a zone within a communty village, town or city in which the preservation of specific types of retail outlets and businesses are controlled in law.

Currently there are no business conservation areas in Britain. Friends of Portobello wants Portobello Road to be Britain's first business conservation area.

How Portobello Road is affected The benefits of a business conservation area to Portobello Road are significant. In recent years, the street has seen the introduction of high-street chain stores where previously there were independent local shops. If this trend continues, then the future of Portobello Road as we know it today, with its entrepreneurial, independent shops, is at stake. Click here for more details.

'Clone Town Britain'
A study was conducted in summer 2005 by the New Economics Foundation in which it declared the importance of communities establishing, where necessary, a business conservation area.

Click here to read more about the threat of Clone Town Britain.