Croydon
Overview of borough
Resident population: 337,000
Working age population: 216,200
Key town centres: Croydon, Purley, Thornton Heath, Coulsdon, Norbury.
The Chinese community is spread across different parts of London, as a consequence of a large and growing professional middle class many Chinese moved from Chinatown to areas such as Croydon and Colindale, resulting in bespoke services such as the Wing Yip business centre on Purley Way, Croydon.
Skills & Labour Force
Qualifications:
29.7% of the workforce is educated to degree level (NVQ4+) compared with London at 34.6%
International Schools
Chinese (Cantonese dialect) Saturday School
at Trinity Boys' High School for students aged 5 - 16 years. Contact: Mrs Jane Tang, Mobile: 07710 794212
Japanese Saturday school
is run at Croydon High School for students aged 6-15, contact number: +44 (0) 20 8993 7145
Colleges / Universities
Coulsdon College
Web: www.coulsdon.ac.uk
Croydon College
Web: www.croydon.ac.uk
John Ruskin College
Web: www.johnruskin.ac.uk
Continuing Education and Training Services
Web: www.cets.co.uk
The BRIT school
Web: www.brit.croydon.sch.uk/
Business Base
There are 179,900 economically active people in the borough.
There are 9,075 VAT registered businesses based in Croydon, with both new start-up enterprises and established businesses thriving. 
Croydon has a large number of multinational companies in the business service and engineering sectors, which are attracted by the large amount of office space available, approx. 8.5 million sq ft, as well the excellent transport links. The wholesale & retail sector also dominates the business base. Other niche sectors include energy – SNC Lavalin; ICT – BT and Inquiry Management Systems; and aerospace & defence – Sigma Aerospace and Centronic.
Companies include: Erinaceous, Amec, TPS Consult, Stonewest, HBOS, AIG, Liverpool Victoria, BT, Direct Line, Home Office, IPC Country and Leisure Media, Jane’s Information Group, Mondial, Mott McDonald, Nestle, SNC Lavalin and Pegasus Solutions (Utell).
Model based unemployment rate: 6.9% (Apr 2006-Mar 2007).
Transport
London Victoria and London Bridge stations can be reached within 15 minutes by train.
Gatwick International Airport is just 15 minutes by train from central Croydon and London Heathrow is within an hour by road or rail.
Tramlink connecting Croydon with Beckenham, and Wimbledon.
The A23 London to Brighton road links Croydon directly to the M23 and M25. The A232 provides east-west links with Kingston, Sutton and Bromley.
Croydon Tramlink: Transport for London are planning to extend Croydon Tramlink from Harrington Road to Anerley and Crystal Palace. The extension could open in 2013 if funding for construction and Government approval is obtained.
East London Line: Extensions to the line are planned in two phases. Phase 1 will involve extending the East London line to Dalston Junction, Crystal Palace and West Croydon by summer 2010.
Quality of life
Top 5 attractions:
Croydon Clocktower: Live performance space showing dance, music and theatre, plus the Museum of Croydon.
Fairfield Halls - entertainment venue for South London with plans to make it a vibrant arts venue for the 21st century.
Addington Palace: former summer home to Archbishops of Canterbury.
Croydon Skyline: unique public lighting programme involving 20 buildings in the town centre between dusk and midnight
Shopping: One of the biggest retail centres in the South East including the Whitgift Centre, Centrale, Wing Yip Centre and the Purley Way.
Business Support
Croydon Chamber of Commerce
Suite 60, Capital Business Centre, 22 Carlton Road, South Croydon, CR2 OBS.
020 8916 2345 www.croydonchamber.org.uk
Croydon Council
Taberner House, Park Lane, Croydon CR9 3JS
020 8686 4433 www.croydon.gov.uk
Croydon Business
5th Floor, Park House, 22 Park Street, Croydon CR0 1YE
020 8686 2233 www.croydonbusiness.com
Croydon Enterprise
5th Floor, Park House, 22 Park Street CR0 1YE
Business hot-line: 020 8680 6161
www.croydonenterprise.com
