Meridian Water will create an economy for makers and creators, delivering new jobs and opportunities for local people on a scale which will transform the employment base of the Borough.

The transformation will represent a step-change away from industrial warehousing and logistics type uses, which are relatively plentiful in the Borough, offering higher skilled, higher paid employment opportunities for local people.

A new series of employment offers will be developed across the site, attracting major employers as well as start-ups, including new meanwhile uses, a new cluster for fashion manufacturing and the creation of workspaces for makers, creators and artists.

Local social-enterprise Building Bloqs, will form part of the new employment hub at Meridian Water, providing a boost and new jobs for the ‘maker’ economy. This will be supported by the MW Employment Strategy, currently being finalised and out for consultation in 2020 .

The Council will also work with a number of operators to deliver temporary projects across the site, making efficient use of land, creating short to medium-term employment opportunities and bringing life and activity to the area early on in the programme. This will include bringing the existing sheds back into use on the site by delivering high quality leisure, arts and culture facilities to support a 24-hour destination.

Throughout the life of the overall regeneration programme, an estimated 10,000 construction jobs will be created. A dedicated training offering to provide a programme of traineeships and apprenticeships and an active schools programme will also be delivered, helping local people gain the skills needed during construction and beyond as well as inspiring the next generation of employees,

As a development planned from scratch, super high-speed broadband will be delivered across the site matched by a pioneering approach to digital infrastructure to maximise the benefits of the sharing economy.