Boroughs | Kingston upon Thames

• Kingston is London's oldest market town with a rich and extraordinary history.  The borough is where the coronation of England’s first kings took place and boasts a stunning riverside location bordered by royal parks and a palace. It also sits between two major airports, 11 miles west of central London.
• A particularly rich source of talent: 65% of residents educated to degree level or higher, significantly higher than that of London and the UK. Very high levels of managerial, director and professionally qualified residents, and a large ‘top 60’ university excelling in science, engineering, computing and architecture.
• Favoured by global brands including Merlin Entertainments (Chessington), Lidl’s new UK head office, and the site of Unilever’s new global HQ in Kingston. Other established leading employers include Sega Amusements, BAE Systems and Bausch and Lomb UK Ltd.

Sean Gillen, Corporate Head of Employment, Skills and Economy, sean.gillen@kingston.gov.uk

Simon Maxton, Project Director; Council Office Complex & Cattle Market Car Park, simon.maxton@kingston.gov.uk

“Kingston is a vibrant and diverse borough with a strong cultural and community heritage. We want to create a place that understands and treasures its history, seeks to build on the best of that past, cares passionately about both its built and natural environment, and is confident of its future.

We have a strong vision to breathe new life into regeneration sites across the borough to diversify and better use the areas to deliver a range of housing choices, new workplaces, public facilities, spaces and landscaping for our communities to benefit from. We want to place Kingston’s unique history and heritage at the heart of any regeneration to provide the communities, economy and homes local people value.

We have pledged to build sustainable homes that are affordable so people can live and work in the borough. We are thinking differently about town centres and High Streets as places to live, work and play. We are committed to being carbon neutral, with sustainable and green principles guiding all we do. Bringing forward major developments and providing a supportive policy environment are vital. We’re investing heavily in the borough and invite you to join us in helping to shape Kingston’s future.”

Our Economic Development and Growth Strategy 2018-2025 provides a clear direction for the borough, and this will be refreshed during 2022 to ensure we are well-placed to emerge strongly from the pandemic. The emerging themes of this will build on the previous strategy and respond to new opportunities, likely to include:

• Capitalising on the borough’s prime position to respond to economic changes, to accommodate less centralised business models and major growth in those working near-to-home. This will contribute to ongoing work to diversify the borough’s economy and enhance its resilience.
• Protecting and ensuring the supply of spaces and places for enterprise, through supportive policy and partnership with developers, that enables appropriate growth.
• Retaining more of the borough’s talent locally, with jobs that match residents’ skills and education, and opportunities for Kingston University’s rich pool of graduate expertise.
• Supporting the recovery and growth of our town centres and high streets, enhancing the benefits of our cultural and arts sectors, to support our centres’ role as economic, social and cultural hubs.  A new ‘vision’ for Kingston Town Centre and strategic partnership approach for new Malden will support this while enhancing the borough’s heritage
• Supporting  the borough’s leading commitment set out in its climate action plan, and enabling growth of the green economy, toward carbon neutrality by 2038.