Croydon a place of opportunity

URBAN ROOM – TOWN CENTRE REGENERATION

One of the things that I’m often asked about as Executive Mayor of Croydon, is ‘what is happening with the regeneration of Croydon town centre?’ Since being elected, the regeneration of the town centre has been a key priority for me –working with businesses and residents to develop a new, sustainable plan to regenerate the town centre, attract investment and restore confidence in Croydon.

in the Whitgift Centre, in the heart of the town centre. The North End area of the town is the focus and projects will look at its history, how it serves residents now and what they would like to see in the future. This could encompass education, community projects and more.

These ideas will help us to develop clear priorities for an action plan to steer the town centre’s recovery in line with what people want, helping to restore a sense of pride in Croydon. We’re really excited about this project and will be calling on our residents, businesses and partners to get involved. As a collaborative project, we will also be looking to our community for ideas and suggestions on what they would like to see hosted at the Urban Room.

Isifiso, which sells recycled products and promotes sustainable fashion, has been chosen by Small Business Saturday as one of the UK’s top 100 small business firms.

It was launched by Kavitha Soundararajan, from Thornton Heath, who sells handmade products using recycled materials and runs sustainable fashion workshops that teach sewing and mending skills.

I’m delighted to be able to share that we have an exciting community engagement project launching this autumn that will help on this journey to making that vision a reality.

Our town centre is, of course, vital for local businesses and the local economy, but it also plays an important role as a community hub. While planning for the future of the town centre, we want to explore what the priorities are for our residents, beyond being a retail destination.

That’s why we are launching the Urban Room – a collaborative, community project that will provide a space for conversations, exhibitions and events, so we can hear the views of people who live, work and visit Croydon.

Urban Room engagement will take place online initially, followed by in-person activities at a base

The programme is part of the council’s Growth Zone – a partnership between the council, central government, the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) – to support growth in the town centre.

I have also been working closely with businesses and partners to bring forward the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre and welcomed the news that URW (Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield) completed the acquisition of Hammerson’s 50% stake in the Croydon Partnership. This 10-hectare area includes the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres, high street retail frontage, office blocks and multi-storey car parks.

We look forward to working with them as they develop a new masterplan for the town centre. www.croydonurbanroom.com

South Norwood Business Launchpad

It’s important that Croydon is a place of opportunity for business, earning and learning. Starting a small business can be very challenging and often a helping hand is needed to get an idea off the ground.

South Norwood Business Launchpad scheme – an initiative run by Croydon Council and funded by the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund – helped to kickstart small and developing businesses and we’ve been delighted to hear success stories from some of the entrepreneurs who took part.

“Selling things that you make is very personal and part of who you are is in the product. As a small business owner, it can be difficult to manage workload, but seeing the interest people have in coming to our workshops and buying our products has been amazing,” Ms Soundararajan said. The South Norwood Business Launchpad scheme gave entrepreneurs a chance to test their business ideas, in supportive environment, at Clock Tower Market in South Norwood.

Ms Soundararajan was one of two winners on the programme. The second was Lorraine Alexis, also a South Norwood entrepreneur, who makes vegan, cruelty-free, organic skincare under the brand name, Glowpretty London. Glowpretty was the recipient of a Vegan Choice Award 2023.

Ms Soundararajan added: “The South Norwood Business Launchpad was a brilliant scheme that helped to provide me with the marketing skills needed to help run my business. Through the programme, I met other traders and was inspired by the amount of talent, passion and ideas in the community.”

Jason Perry Executive Mayor of Croydon