BID Organiser

Funded and run by the businesses of the town centre, Walton-on-Thames Business Improvement District is a company dedicated to making Walton a welcoming and vibrant place for businesses, visitors and residents alike.

Working within a defined boundary area, Walton BID is a not-for-profit organisation where businesses come together in partnership to fund projects, services and initiatives to support local business and enhance the town centre for mutual commercial success.

Why Walton?

Walton on Thames is famous for being ‘Little Hollywood’ as one of the leading British Film Pioneers of the 1900’s, Cecil Hepworth, was based at studios in Hurst Grove, Walton.

Hepworth and the subsequent ‘Nettlefold’ Studios were the key to British Film and Cinema successes, well ahead of other countries including Italy, France and the United States.

Why 2023?

We have created the Film Festival for Walton on Thames in 2023, as it is the 120th anniversary of Cecil Hepworth’s film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s book ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

The original film by Hepworth was just a few minutes long, but it created the costumes and scene setting that was developed further by Walt Disney Studios in 1951.