Croydon Council has been successful in securing £500,000 funding for a creative digital lab to help support local businesses and enable residents to upskill.
The lab, in Weatherill House, off Purley Way, will be one of the sole providers in South London of industry standard digital facilities, charged at affordable prices, for Croydon’s companies to develop content on their doorstep.
The facilities will include a digital audio production suite, post-production video and audio editing facilities, recording studio for podcasts and voiceovers and a training suite.
It will also be a centre for collaboration, where businesses can work together, spark innovation and access training, supporting Mayor Jason Perry’s priority for the borough to be a place of opportunity for business, earning and learning.
Working with Start Up Croydon and South London Partnership, Croydon successfully secured £500,000 of investment from the City of London and the Greater London Authority. Start-Up Croydon, a local charity that supports entrepreneurship, has contributed additional funding totalling £400,000 through other grant sources.
The investment supports Croydon’s role as one of London’s Creative Enterprise Zones – a borough selected by the Mayor of London where creative industries can flourish and grow. Croydon’s creative sector has experienced strong growth over recent years, more than many other sectors in the borough.
The project will also benefit from the world-class knowledge and expertise of six universities in the BIG (Business, Innovation and Growth) South London, powered by the South London Partnership. The partnership supports economic growth by helping local businesses to grow and improve their productivity.
“We are delighted to have secured this investment that will help local businesses and start-ups to get the skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing digital landscape.
“We look forward to working with our partners, local businesses and education providers on this project and seeing the creative digital lab opening during Croydon’s year as London Borough of Culture.”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon
Chief Executive of StartUp Croydon, Saffron Saunders, said: “We have been supporting new business owners with training and mentoring since 1983. As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we are delighted to receive this capital investment which will breed new life into our building and propel our services into the digital era.
“We look forward to enabling local people to access state of the art equipment and escalating career opportunities for those who would not usually have access to the digital assets our Creative Digital Lab will include.”
The Creative Digital Lab is expected to open in the autumn – during Croydon’s year as London Borough of Culture. Register your interest, either as a potential user, a volunteer to provide your support to the next generation of creatives, or if you are interested in delivering creative, industry-related training. See the StartUp Croydon website for more information.
