Business Retention

The prosperity of the sub-region is dependent upon the 40% (of the workforce) who commute out of the area to earn higher wages, the 40% (of labour) drawn in from the south-east, and, the strength of the four metropolitan centres. Anticipated strong growth in the adjacent A3 and M23 corridors could see further loss of business and employment opportunities to the areas around the M25.

There are business retention issues associated with staff recruitment and retention, recruitment difficulties due to lack of skills, transport difficulties and high housing cost resulting in a loss of business to other regions.

South London has the highest proportion of the workforce employed in managerial/ senior officer roles; the second highest graduate presence in London; and over half (51%) of the employed workforce is in knowledge occupations. Despite this high level of skills, it is still estimated that 50% of labour market entrants are not qualified to NVQ level 3 and that there is a mismatch between the skills of the available workforce and the needs of business. This has important implications for the south London local labour market, resulting in difficulties in recruiting essential skilled labour for sectors such as construction, hospitality, motor trades, manufacturing, retail, health and care.

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