This district offers excellent access to the London market, South-East England and Europe — without high overhead costs

10 key facts about business and life in the south of the city.

• Booming business base: South London’s economy is dominated by the financial and business services sector. Other key markets include retail, civil and mechanical engineering, ICT, distribution, creative industries, oil and gas and manufacturing. Multi-nationals with major operations or HQs here include Nestlé, Gazprom, Eidos, Bank of America, AIG and Heineken.
• Major investment: Croydon has many new projects spanning major office and retail developments, mixed-use schemes, a landmark tower and connection to the London Underground train network, projected for 2010.
• Vast choice of property: from prestigious office developments to business parks and innovation support facilities, this area has the premises to meet all business needs.  Competitive rates allow companies to benefit from the prestige of a London address at lower cost.
• Excellent transport links: it takes 15 minutes to travel to central London by train or tube. Airports are within easy reach — Gatwick is within 30 minutes, Heathrow and London City are within 45 minutes and it takes an hour to reach Stansted. It takes less than two hours by motorway to reach major sea ports such as Southampton and Felixstowe. South London has the only modern tram system in South-East England.
• Lucrative retail outlets: Croydon scores highly on mall shopping with the Whitgift and Centrale Shopping centres, offering 1.7 million square feet of retail space, plus the 1 million square foot Park Place mall to be built by 2012.  Kingston’s Bentall and Eden Walk retail centres attract 13 million and 11.5 million visitors a year respectively. Wimbledon village and Richmond are home to niche designer boutique-style shops.
• Best boroughs for your sector:
  • Bromley (contact centres, civil engineering, retail) 
  • Croydon (financial services, retail, ICT, logistics, professional services, marketing, shared service centres, and civil engineering) 
  • Kingston-Upon-Thames (retail, ICT, distribution, sales & marketing services, and defence) 
  • Merton (logistics, and Korean retail, business services & community centre) 
  • Richmond-Upon-Thames (oil and gas, retail, ICT, financial and professional services, marketing) 
  • Sutton (healthcare, oil and gas).
• Residential range: choose from luxurious riverside properties in Richmond and Kingston, to flats in Croydon and Bromley, conveniently placed next to major transport hubs.
• Impressive education options: top independent and state schools include Wilson’s School, Sutton — where one in three students gained entry into ‘top ten’ UK universities and Tiffin Girls School, Kingston — one of the country’s first maths and computing specialist colleges. Ravensbourne College of Art and Design is the National Centre of Excellence for Broadcasting. Kingston University with circa 19,000 students is London’s top ranking new university according to The Guardian’s new university league table.
• Ethnic diversity: Some 130 different languages are spoken amongst the labour force.  International schools include Richmond’s American International University, German and Swedish School, the Chinese school in Croydon, the Norwegian School in Merton, and the Korean Saturday School in Kingston.
• Good quality of life: the area has a wealth of well-established town centres. Many of the towns have a village feel with their own regular farmers markets and festivals — creating a close-knit, supportive local community.

We work closely with the regional agency for south London, South London Business, to provide our clients with the detailed area specific advice and information they need.

Contact our south London expert, Pru Ashby, to discuss whether this area of London can meet your business needs.