A hand-drawn map to help east London’s small traders in the run-up to the Christmas shopping spree is being prepared by artist Adam Dant.

The deadline for independent businesses to be included in this year’s East End Trades Guild map is October 22.

The guild which launched a ‘Spacehive’ crowdfunding recruitment drive this week is distributing 30,000 copies on ‘Small Business Saturday’ in December.

The crowdfunding has reached 60 per cent in its first week, with new members being signed up in the fight for fair rents and rates and winning concessions for railway arches from TfL and Network Rail.

“The guild has given me confidence to take on Network Rail to fight their outrageous rent rises,” Guardians of the Arches campaigner Leni Jones said. “It has opened up collective power, where real people are taking back control of their circumstances.”

The guild’s 250 members have also launched an ‘Affordable Workspace’ manifesto on commercial rents to “create a level playing field” for independent traders.