Croydon Council and London Gatwick unite to boost economic growth for local residents

Croydon Council and London Gatwick join forces to boost economic growth, skills and jobs for local residents.

Croydon Council and London Gatwick signed an Economic Growth Charter to help drive future economic growth, boost skills and create new jobs for residents.

London Gatwick’s economic impact extends beyond its boundaries and has a strong, positive influence on Croydon. The latest data – from leading economist Oxera – shows that the airport helped generate over £265 million for Croydon’s economy in 2023, including supporting over 3600 jobs.

The new charter looks to boost this significant economic benefit  further by providing a framework for cooperation between the council and London Gatwick. This includes quarterly meetings and monitored action plans to support collaboration across five key areas:

• Economic prosperity: explore opportunities to drive economic growth through regular engagement and sharing of data and insights
• Job creation: London Gatwick’s future growth plans will create thousands of new jobs. By working together, a range of employment and skills opportunities at the airport will be shared with Croydon residents, including Croydon care leavers
• Supply chain opportunities: promote opportunities for Croydon businesses to become part of London Gatwick’s supply chain, supporting economic resilience and sustainability
• Inward investment: collaborate on regional promotion initiatives, highlighting the opportunities that Croydon can offer developers and investors
• Apprenticeship and graduate programmes: promote London Gatwick’s established apprenticeship, graduate and intern programmes to young people across Croydon

Recent initiatives supported by London Gatwick in the borough include a jobs fair at Croydon College that saw 350 job seekers attend, support for the promotion of Croydon at UKREiiF – a leading UK event to attract future inward investment – and the opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses based in Croydon to register their interest in working with the airport as a supplier.

London Gatwick is also investing in its long-term future and its planning application to bring the airport’s existing Northern Runway into routine use, has now entered the examination phase with the government’s planning inspectorate. If approved, it would create around 14,000 new jobs and inject £1 billion into the region’s economy every year from supply-chain and other business opportunities, in addition to increased tourism and trade benefits.  

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, and London Gatwick CEO, Stewart Wingate, both signed the economic growth Charter on 11 April.

Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, London Gatwick, said: “Whether working at the airport, flying through or supplying goods and services, residents and businesses from across the London Borough of Croydon have supported London Gatwick for many years.  Over £265 million of value in the local economy and 3600 local jobs are generated by activity related to the airport and today’s new charter aims to grow this important contribution even further.”