Ealing Council has announced plans to improve the borough’s economy with a new jobs and skills strategy alongside a strategy to boost the after 6pm economy across the borough.
Both plans were recently approved at Ealing Council’s cabinet meeting on 18 September 2024.
The Labour-run council said it aims for the borough’s economy after 6pm to become a “a more prosperous and inclusive place to live, work, visit, and run a business after 6pm. It seeks to ensure each of the borough’s 7 towns has a unique and diverse offer”.
According to council research, 26.5% of local spend happens between 6pm-6am, over a third of evening and nighttime industries in Ealing are in the culture and leisure sectors, including hotels, sports, hospitality and Ealing is home to 1,457 licensed venues.
For Ealing it means finding ways to diversify and protect what it currently offers, investment in Southall and Acton and offering new services and amenities in Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt and Perivale.
According to Ealing Council the plan aims to give access to residents to a wide range of jobs, services and amenities within a 20-minute round trip from their homes by walking or cycling.
For its jobs and skills strategy, the council says it is also looking to introduce three priority sectors which are likely to see high growth in the future – creative and digital, green and circular economy and life sciences.
The council said more than 6,000 people responded to its consultation about the draft strategy for the borough’s economy after 6pm. It added that the new jobs and skills strategy was co-developed with the council’s new jobs and skills forum.
Councillor Peter Mason, leader of the council, said: “Our new plans will be key as we look to invigorate the local economy in our borough, and deliver on our commitment to creating 10,000 new good, and well-paid jobs by 2026. We want to leverage the cultural and industrial history that we are so proud of in Ealing, create communities filled with pride and identity, making it so that our residents have the opportunity to work locally, and earn a decent living income for their families.”
Councillor Mason added: “With these new plans for jobs and work in our borough, we are ensuring that regardless of where and when you work in the borough, everyone can experience the economic prosperity that we are creating for each of our 7 towns.”
Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, the council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes, said: “These new strategies are a key milestone in our journey towards building a stronger economy for the borough which provides opportunities for all. In addition to supporting sectors that already provide a vast number of jobs, we will now focus the borough’s efforts on supporting businesses and workers in 3 new priority sectors.”
Councillor Nagpal added: “Working with residents and employers, we will create thriving evening and night-time economies in each of our 7 towns, where people, businesses, and communities can succeed together.”
