Croydon will become even more attractive than it was pre-pandemic, Croydon Council leader Councillor Hamida Ali has said.

Opening the 2021 Develop Croydon Conference, Live/Work Croydon, Cllr Ali said Croydon was the answer to businesses who want to reduce the costs of having a well-connected business base, without losing any quality, and added that identifying inward investment opportunities was an integral part of the council’s COVID-19 recovery plan.

Cllr Ali said: “COVID-19 has really tested the resilience of communities across the country and forced us all to reflect the work from home revolution has not only challenged our ideas about work, but also the importance of our local areas as we’ve been spending more time at home and in our local neighborhoods – and it’s a revolution which really plays to Croydon strengths, as we’re comparatively affordable and with plenty of amazing parks and green spaces while only 15 minutes from Central London.

“Our borough really offers the best of both city and suburban life, offering affordable property prices, excellent schools, and nearly 130 green spaces which makes up more than half the land in the borough.

“Croydon is a really exciting place to live, to work and to play. We’re already a microcosm of the capital, diverse in every sense of the word. Leafy suburbs in the south and really busy urban areas to the north.

“Put another way, Croydon combines the green open spaces of outer London with the urban energy and diversity of inner London. And it’s what makes Croydon so attractive to those wanting to make the most of not having to be in the office every day London, but greener and more affordable.”

Cllr Ali highlighted the borough’s diversity and young population as great strengths, along with exceptional transport links, excellent schools and vibrant district centres making Croydon a fantastic place to live, learn and play.

“For businesses, we are loaded with opportunity,” Cllr Ali added. “We’re a hotspot for business growth and for tech innovation. Our proximity to London combined with our relative workspace and housing affordability continues to make us that strong attraction.

“And as working patterns are changing and focus on work life balance really increases, we’re really confident Croydon will become even more attractive than it was pre-pandemic, to businesses looking for that location – that location that can offer good affordable housing options, flexible workspace, fantastic green space, and leisure facilities and an exciting and growing creative and culture cultural sector.

“While COVID-19 may have led to change here in Croydon we’re very much open for business. With more great space and further investment in the pipeline, Croydon is the answer to businesses who want to reduce the costs of having a well-connected London base, but without losing that quality.

“It’s a stock image of our resilience here in Croydon that despite the pandemic, we remained a very vibrant growing community and communities throughout COVID. And looking up at any point over the past few years, either then or now. And the number of cranes lighting up the Croydon sky has never diminished.”

Cllr Ali also said the council was committed to building a “refreshed, stronger” vision for the borough – in particular the town centre – and set up a new Town Centre Advisory Board to develop that work as a collaborative community and business vision for the future, sharing the right kind of development which works for Croydon.

Cllr Ali was also asked by conference chair Joe Lynam, about the upcoming mayoral elections, following a borough-wide referendum earlier this year – and whether she would be going for it.

Cllr Ali said: “I’ve already said I won’t be putting myself forward. We run and I run a Labour council at the moment and naturally, you’d expect me to say that I think what our borough needs is a continued Labour administration. But given some of the challenges we’ve been through as a council, I think our chances are best served by somebody who perhaps has no connection to that recent past.

“I want to put the needs of our communities first in that sense and what I do think is the opportunity a new executive mayor will offer an opportunity for Croydon to really raise its voice in the London-wide conversation.”