Croydon Council has been recognised for its work to get hundreds of residents into jobs and support local businesses – by being shortlisted in three categories of an awards ceremony celebrating London’s small business initiatives.
Croydon Council is in the running in three of the four categories of the Small Business Friendly Borough Awards, which is supported by the London region of the Federation of Small Businesses and London Councils:
• Best All-Round Small Business Friendly Borough
• Best Small Business Friendly Procurement to Support Local Trade
• Best Programme to Reduce Impact of Crime on Small Businesses (in partnership with Croydon Business Improvement District (BID))
Croydon Council’s nominations focused on how the authority facilitated the business-led small business commission, which engaged with local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This led to improvements in an already wide-ranging and innovative offer for businesses. These offers include the Croydon Means Business programme, which delivered support to more than 4,500 business delegates and the council’s free job brokerage service, Croydon Works, which has worked with more than 250 businesses to get more than 600 residents into work since September 2017.
The nominations also looked at how the council is committed to enabling local micro and small businesses to access public sector and other local contracts.
The council has also been asked to speak on a panel about reducing crime, following the council’s bid demonstrating a strong collaborative approach with key partners including Croydon BID and the Metropolitan Police to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.
The awards will take place at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London’s West End on Monday, 20 May.
“It’s fantastic to hear the council has been shortlisted at the Small Business Friendly Borough Awards. Croydon is open for business and this proves that.
“The work we do as an authority with our partners for and alongside businesses across Croydon is hugely important to us.
“Congratulations to everyone for their hard work in getting us to the awards and good luck to everyone on the evening.”
Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed, cabinet member for economy and jobs
