Together with Hatch and We Made That, PRD developed an Economic Impact Study for two important, but distinctly different neighbourhoods in the London Borough of Croydon, South Norwood and New Addington.

The purpose of each study is to establish a greater understanding of both the assets and socioeconomic characteristics of each area and to propose a tailored suite of priorities and opportunities for interventions to deliver inclusive growth in each neighbourhood.

For of the South Norwood High Street area, PRD’s role included examining commercial property trends and deals within the area and proposing innovative strategic approaches for the Council to take control of key retail and commercial properties within the High Street in order to incubate social value uses relevant to the local communities’ needs, such as work space provision and community-oriented businesses.

The New Addington Study comprised a variety of sites, including a key industrial site at Vulcan Way, a recycling site at Fishers’ Farm and a local centre. Key opportunities for intervention in New Addington focused on supporting Vulcan Way to continue to thrive and grow as a key industrial location through asset management, business support and skills pathways development and on exploring the potential of Fishers’ Farm to become an incubator for green and clean technologies.