Merton

Overview of borough

Resident population: 201,400

Working age population: 136,400

Key town centres are: Wimbledon, Colliers Wood, Raynes Park, Mitcham, and Morden.

Strong South Asian, Chinese and Korean community within the borough.

Skills & Labour Force

Qualifications:
Merton has 38% of the workforce qualified to degree level (NVQ4+) compared with London at 38.6%

International Schools / Universities

Norwegian School
Only Scandinavians, age 3-16 years, mixed gender.
Web: www.dnslondon.com

South Asian community
A mother- tongue Tamil Sunday school for children aged 5 – 14 years, and a West Indian School is run on Sundays providing general supplementary classes. Both schools are run from the Ethnic Minority centre at The Vestry Hall 326 London Road, Mitcham CR4 3UD, Tel: 020 8648 0084.

Colleges / Universities

Merton Adult Education (formerly Merton Adult College)
Web: www.merton-adult-college.ac.uk

Merton College
Web: www.merton.ac.uk

Wimbledon College of Art
Web: www.wimbledon.ac.uk

Business Base

There are 117,900 economically active workers employed in the borough.

Number of VAT registered businesses: 6,685

Key business sectors include business and personal service organizations, and the wholesale & retail sector.

Key companies include: HSS Hire, Reichold, DHC, Eidos, Lidl UK, Coty, Misys, Thales, Plastico, and CIPD.
Unemployment rate model based unemployed 5.5% (Apr2008-Mar 2009)

Transport

14 Railway stations connecting to Waterloo, Victoria, Clapham Junction and others.

The Northern & the District Underground lines link the borough to Waterloo, the City, the West End and the rest of the Tube network.
Trams linking Wimbledon to Croydon & Beckenham.

Merton is just 9 miles from Heathrow Airport and 16 miles from Gatwick.
The A3 gives access to the South Circular and the M25.

Quality of life

Top 5 attractions:

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Morden Hall Park - unspoilt meadowland and cluster of estate buildings, Morden.

Wat Buddhapadipa - a Buddhist temple, Wimbledon.

Merton Abbey Mills - craft village, Colliers Wood.

A number of annual festivals: AbbeyFest - A celebration of music, theatre and comedy; Cannizaro Park Open Air Theatre Festival; and Dancescape, Merton's Festival of Dance.

Business Support

Merton Chamber of Commerce
Diana Sterck
5th Floor, Tuition House, 27-37 St. George’s Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU
020 8944 5501
www.mertonchamber.co.uk

Merton Borough Council
Civic Centre, London Road, Morden SM4 5DX
020 8274 4901
www.merton.gov.uk