The Croydon Partnership has become one of the founding signatories to a new charter which encourages best practice among the business community in supporting employment in the borough and the local economy.
The Partnership, a joint venture between Westfield and Hammerson is creating one of the UK’s top 10 shopping and leisure destinations, investing £1.4bn and delivering 5,000 new jobs as well as acting as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Croydon.
The Partnership has underlined its long-term commitment to Croydon by becoming one of the first to sign up to Croydon’s Good Employer Charter, pledging to support the creation of jobs and training opportunities for residents by employing locally, whenever possible.
Westfield development director Steve Yewman said: “We have a once in a lifetime opportunity for Croydon – £5.25bn of investment planned, 23,000 new jobs, 8,000 new homes, as well as new offices and a revitalised retail, dining and leisure destination.
Our pledge to this charter is an extension of our continued commitment to the Croydon business community, ensuring our development brings widespread benefits for the generations to come.”
Over the past three years the Croydon Partnership has invested more than £1.3m into a community programme for Croydon, supporting youth groups to generate training and future job opportunities as well as promoting local business enterprise.
The Partnership has provided direct funding, business support and volunteering for a wide range of community groups, projects and initiatives.
It has also provided space in the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres for enterprising initiatives and start-up businesses.
The Partnership champions local business initiatives such as the Croydon Pop-Up Business School, where 200 businesses showcase their ideas and have access to skilled industry experts. Funding is also provided to enable the next generation of business people to enrol on the Network for Teaching Young Entrepreneurs programme.
Carolyn Kenney, development director for Hammerson, said: “Over the past three years we have invested heavily into our long-term community programme. We have engaged with 14,000 local people and more than 1,500 businesses through a range of outreach initiatives which promote local business enterprise.”