Local Economy and Employment

The Facts

• Population: 338,000
• Estimated number of businesses: 9,000
• Area: 9,065 hectares (22,400 acres)
• Green Belt Area: 2,270 hectares (5,600 acres)

Croydon is the economic and social heart of a vast regional area in the South East. It has one of the largest and most popular shopping centres outside London’s West End, with more than 600,000 shoppers estimated to use the Whitgift Shopping Centre alone each week.

Croydon is well located for road and rail links. It is also within easy travelling distance of several airports (including Heathrow and Gatwick). Additionally Tramlink, the environmentally-friendly light rail system, has further enhanced its accessibility.

Approximately 52,000 people travel into the borough on a daily basis to work.

Major Source of Employment

The most recently available employment data is the Annual Employment Survey for 1995.  The survey indicates that the major sources of male employment in Croydon are financial services and other business service activities which account for 26% of all male employment. This is also a major source of employment for females, accounting for 27% of all female employment.  Retail, health and social work are the leading sources of female employment accounting for 32% of all female employment.  The female full time to part time ratio for retail is 35% : 65% and for health and social work 52% : 48%.

Supply of Labour

In 1991 81,400 people lived and worked in the borough.  Another 69,650 lived in Croydon but worked elsewhere.  Out of a resident workforce of 151,050, 14.1% were self-employed. In 1993 there was a total of 166,240 economically active people* (93,075 males and 73,165 females).  It is projected there by the year 2001 this will increase to 171,900.

*Economically active are those residents over the age of 16 who are capable of work.  (Source: OPCS 1991 Census and 1995 projections.)

Recruitment Catchment Area

Croydon's working population of 133,660 is the second largest in outer London.  This comprises 81,260 who are resident and 52,260 who work in the Borough but live outside it.

The 52,260 people commute in from a wide area which includes the whole of London and parts of Surrey, Kent and East and West Sussex. The total population of this recruitment catchment area in excess of 11 million.

Available Labour

In July 1997 there was a pool of some 6,000* white collar workers available for work, many of whom are highly skilled.  This represents an opportunity for office employers both within Croydon and those looking to relocate here. In January 1997 the unemployment rate for Croydon was 7.4%.

*51% of the registered unemployed in Croydon were white collar in 1997. The number of unemployed in January 1997 was 12,215.

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Monday, 12 May, 2008

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