Croydon embarks on £176m trade and investment boost

The London Borough of Croydon is investing £176m into the town centre in a bid to boost trade and investment.
 
The funding, which was obtained from Network Rail, mayoral and council money, will also be used to build an additional 20,000 dwellings in the town centre as part of the Develop Croydon Forum project.
 
Investors and key decision makers were invited to the town this week, (28 September) to participate in a borough-wide tour where they saw Croydon from both a private and public sector perspective in light of the new plans.
 
Richard Plant, Chairman of the Develop Croydon Forum and Partner of Stiles Harold Williams, said: “We hope the tour has challenged and changed their perceptions of Croydon for the better.
 
“We are seeing people fresh to Croydon becoming involved in the town and this gave them a spectacular overview of the changes that are taking place.
 
“It was about spreading the word that things are happening with Croydon. Construction on the footbridge at East Croydon has begun, property investment company Abstract’s Renaissance development of offices is being constructed and is due for completion next year and Berkeley’s has indicated that following very successful sales at Saffron Square it will be building its flagship tower. In addition the new council offices are nearing completion and the public realm improvements are on site. Exciting things are happening in Croydon and it is about getting that message across.”
 
Jon Rouse, Chief Executive of London Borough of Croydon, said: “Croydon is an incredibly contrasting, diverse borough. Its great competitive advantage is its location and the transport links that flow in and out and there is a real go-getting attitude, which makes this an exciting place to be.
 
“Although our traditionally strong retail centre has been in decline, most people will know we have Hammerson and Westfield competing to redevelop the Whitgift Centre.
 
“We have very real challenges here but we have already started work on making the town more visitor friendly.”
 
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