Published: 13 February 2018

From: Economy

A new study reveals the growing importance of Manor Royal and its impact in terms of jobs, business and its contribution to the economy.

The Economic Impact Study, jointly commissioned by the Manor Royal BID and Crawley Borough Council, was conducted by leading economic and regeneration consultants, Lichfields, to assess how well the Business District is performing and what it needs to do to remain competitive.

The last study was carried out almost ten years ago and lead to many changes, including the creation of the UK's largest 'industrial' Business Improvement District (BID) – the Manor Royal BID.

Since then the environment in which Manor Royal operates has been radically altered by large macro-economic events as well as changes closer to home. The study aimed to capture this and make recommendations for future improvements.

The study revealed that since 2010 Manor Royal has grown in a number of important ways. It is now home to over 600 businesses and provides 25% of all Crawley jobs – a whopping 32,800 jobs in total. On top of that it contributes £34 million in rates each, about a third of all rates generated by Crawley that includes Gatwick Airport, and provides over 9m square feet of commercial floorspace. Click here for a summary infographic of the findings.

Not bad for a place that accounts for less than 6% of Crawley's overall landmass.

This shows a notable change from the last study when there was over 90 acres of land available for development and about 20% of all the buildings were empty.

This important study reinforces the vital role Manor Royal plays, it is especially pleasing to see the contribution of the Manor Royal BID being highlighted both in terms of what has been achieved to date and the role it can play in its continued success.

Trevor Williams

Chair of Manor Royal business Improvement District

Thales UK

Here at Crawley Borough Council we know that Manor Royal plays a key part in Crawley's economic growth and recent strong jobs growth performance - it's great to see confirmation of how far we've come in ten years. It is critical to Crawley and its residents that Manor Royal Business District continues to grow and prosper and we intend to work with the BID to help make this happen.

Councillor Peter Smith

Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Development

Crawley Borough Council

The report also highlights a number of ways Manor Royal needs to improve. This includes provision of facilities, wider promotion, enhancements to the public realm and continued efforts by the Manor Royal BID to represent and co-ordinate activities across the Business District.

The Manor Royal BID will look to work with Crawley Borough Council and other key partners to explore ways to act on the recommendations. This will be dependent on the outcome of the BID Renewal Ballot in February when businesses will vote to decide whether to continue with the BID.

tags: manor, royal, economic, growth