Investing in a regenerated Croydon

As the second most populous borough of London^[1], Croydon’s population is set to reach 445,000 by 2031^[2]. As a result, an ambitious £5.25bn regeneration programme is underway to push the borough forward.

When it comes to business, Croydon is the third largest office market outside central London. The borough is home to more than 14,000 businesses, following 33% growth between 2013 and 2018^[3]. Pulsant has been part of this business community since 2011.

When it comes to technology, Croydon is home to more than 2,000 tech firms, employing more then 7,500 people. The sector has consistently outpaced the borough-wide growth^[4], and in 2018 Croydon Council founded Croydon Digital to lead the digital enhancement of the borough.

But there are now profound issues threatening that development.

Despite commitments in the Croydon Economic Strategy to ‘create outstanding digital connectivity within the borough,’ fostering ‘more businesses and jobs in the knowledge economy,’ that same report identifies ‘a lack of access to fast digital connectivity’ as a threat^[5].

At the core of this issue is the fact that - contrary to common thinking - parts of London have suffered from a lack of commercial investment in digital infrastructure. As a result, there are gaps in capability.

The Sub-Regional Digital Infrastructure Strategy from Local London and the South London Partnership has identified over 73,000 premises in the South London Partnership that cannot get a Gigabit capable broadband service. Over 29,000 premises sit in a ‘not spot,’ unable to receive even a 30 Mbps service^[6].

The strategy notes that: “Particularly poorly served Boroughs include Croydon, Newham, Greenwich and Waltham Forest.”

It is no accident that Croydon is first on that list. Across the South London Partnership:

• Croydon has the poorest gigabit capable coverage
• Accounts for more than half of all premises in a not spot
• Accounts for over a third of businesses not able to receive gigabit coverage
  
  

Consequently, private sector investment in digital infrastructure is vital. We recently opened the doors on our newly refurbished Croydon Data Centre.

Investment and change here has been guided by client-centric design aimed at boosting productivity and on-site efficiency. This is the first of our sites to undergo these redesigns based on client feedback and user group insights, and we plan to roll this out to every site in our national platformEDGE network. 

As a testbed for regional focused, customer-driven development of digital infrastructure, Croydon is an obvious choice. We look forward to contributing towards the continued growth of the Croydon economy in 2024 and beyond.