South London: South London is an interesting mix of affluent suburbs and major commercial centres with a population of around 2 million people and a resident workforce in the region of 800,000. Main centres of activity include Croydon, The South Bank and Bromley and it is home to over 50,000 companies including.
Financial and business services, engineering food processing and manufacturing are among the most prominent sectors in the area. As well as being home to leading UK companies such as BT, Direct Line, ICL, Woolwich Bank and The Financial Times, the area has benefited from a significant amount of inward investment. Companies such as Bank of America, Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Alcatel have taken up residence here.
As with other London regions South London is well served by a comprehensive public transport network and gives easy access to well-developed rail and road links to the rest of the UK. Central London is a 20-minute journey by rail from its major commercial centres. The establishment of the Docklands Light Railway extension to Lewisham, and the Jubilee Line extension to North Greenwich, has been significantly improved access to Central London and the City of London.
Croydon, widely recognised as the Southeast's largest commercial centre outside of central London is noted for having the only modern tram system in the South of England. It's commercial district is connected to South London and other major residential and commercial centres by 28km of track.
London Gatwick Airport is ranked eighth busiest international airport in the world and provides more direct flights to US destinations than any other UK airport, and Biggin Hill Airport is the UK's leading private charter airport for flights to Europe. Waterloo rail station provides over 40 daily Eurostar rail services to Paris and Brussels.
Throughout the region, office space can be as much as 50 per cent cheaper than comparable sites in Central London, Croydon alone boasts more than 7,000,000 sq ft of space. There is also plenty of scope for further development with around 240 acres of land available for new business wishing embark on purpose-built projects.
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