Think south London

Ross Feeney, Director of Communications, South London Business explains to Estates Review why south of the river is good for business

Think of investing in London and many would immediately turn their attention to the City or Canary Wharf. By so doing they ignore the potential of the area south of the River Thames stretching from Richmond in the west across a dozen boroughs to Bexley in the east. Currently boasting more than 112,500 businesses, including almost a thousand firms each with more than 250 employees, the South London area has a GDP of £54.6bn. This makes it an economy bigger than a raft of capital cities, including Berlin, Lisbon, Stockholm and Dehli.

What brings companies south of the river and keeps them there? A range of surveys show that good access to markets, quality of life and transport links feature strongly. With Heathrow to the west, Gatwick to the south and Stansted to the north east, the area is within 30 minutes to an hour of the three major airports serving the capital. London City Airport is now more conveniently accessed thanks to a direct link on the Docklands Light Railway while South London’s own business airport at Biggin Hill is geared to serve the company executive. The London Heliport, on the Thames between Battersea and Wandsworth bridges for those requiring rapid access in and out of the City.

With premises cost averaging half that typically encountered in the City and the West End, firms south of the river benefit from a London address, easy access to the centre and reduced overheads. Southwark, Croydon and Lambeth have the lions’ share of the office market in south London whilst Bexley, Southwark, Greenwich and Croydon have the highest stock of industrial space. Croydon is particularly well equipped for Mall shopping with its Whitgift, and Centrale shopping centres. Croydon, Bromley, Wandsworth and Kingston possess the largest share of retail space. However Richmond and Wimbledon, although smaller shopping locations, are in heavy demand by retailers due to the affluent residents who provide a ready stream of income .

The economic benefits of locating in south London are clearly attractive, and sourcing suitable premises is made easy by South London Business’s online commercial property database – www.southlondonbusiness.co.uk/property. The database is regarded as an invaluable information resource on the South London property market and differs from other commercial databases by being completely free for both commercial agents and users to access. As a result, the database averages 75,000 recorded hits per month from approximately 1,700 unique users, not only from within South London, but from all over the UK and as far a field as New Zealand and Japan.

The database has been desinged to be easy to use, and allows users to access information on various different types of property (office, retail, industrial, restaurant) across South London, by particular borough or even by particular town. By simply typing in the type, size and location of the property required, the database provides a list of properties that matches the user’s requirements. By following the on-screen prompts, users then select the particular properties they are interested in, input their email address, and the database automatically emails those details to the user and sends an email acknowledgement to the agent promoting the property.

Business confidence in the South London economy remains high, evidenced by a stream of new and planned developments in most of the sub-regional town centres. For example, construction of Croydon’s 900,000sq ft of retail and restaurant space at Park Place is scheduled for completion in 2013; 13 acres of derelict land next to East Croydon railway station could see 1,150,000sq ft of offices and over 1,300 homes. One of the largest regeneration projects in the capital, 38 acres, is at the former Battersea Power Station in Wandsworth earmarked for a mixed development of residential retail and leisure. And, of course the Thames Gateway, the largest regeneration project in Europe will take place as much south as north of the river with improved links across the tideway. In just one of the south London Gateway boroughs – Lewisham – £250m of business, residential, leisure and infrastructure regeneration is just now beginning.