FAQs: Employment

The Park Royal industrial area contains 1,700 active business, employing over 43,100 people. The Park Royal Atlas study and Future Employment Growth Sectors Study identified key sectors, including: food manufacture, logistics, film industry, motor trades.

In OPDC’s emerging Local Plan, all of the industrial land in Park Royal outside of the Old Oak core development area, is being protected as a strategic industrial location to ensure that businesses and jobs remain in the area.

Within the Old Oak core development area, which is not being designated as an industrial location, OPDC’s priorities are to incorporate existing businesses as part of new developments as much as possible. OPDC has also been exploring ways to increase the amount of floorspace in Park Royal industrial area to try and accommodate more businesses.

HS2 Limited is leading on the approach to help businesses and other organisations who are directly affected by the proposals for High Speed 2. HS2 Limited provide specific information on this process for businesses, which is available online.

OPDC is committed to protecting, strengthening and intensifying Park Royal as the UK’s largest industrial park. We are developing planning policies (see Employment Chapter in the revised draft Local Plan) to ensure the industrial land is protected and to create opportunities for more businesses and jobs to be accommodated. OPDC has also given notice of an Article 4 Direction to help protect existing businesses in Park Royal.

We have a Park Royal Business Manager, who will lead on establishing a robust work programme and creating strong partnerships with local businesses. Through this, we aim to bring a minimum of 10,000 new jobs to Park Royal, secure inward investment and improve the business environment for all.

OPDC are planning to enhance the range of local services available at the heart of Park Royal, the area called Park Royal Centre (see Place policy (P6) in revised draft Local Plan). The range of services could include more shops, restaurants, business services and workspaces - all of which are aimed at helping to support local businesses and residents.

In Park Royal, excluding Channel Gate, there will be approximately 7,000 jobs (a portion of the 10,000 job figure for Park Royal is included in Old Oak West) and around 1,850 homes.

Measures will be put in place to ensure local people are given priority access to apprenticeships, skills training and jobs (as the London Legacy Corporation (LLDC) did for the Olympic Legacy). OPDC will also be working with the local authorities, local apprenticeships and job brokerage services across the three boroughs and across West London.

In addition, developers will be required to state how they will contribute to local employment, apprenticeship and training priorities as part of their planning applications.

For construction contracts that are directly let by the OPDC, OPDC will build on the best practice and experience of other regeneration projects across London. We will aim to exceed what the construction industry might normally be expected to deliver.

Employers and contractors bidding for OPDC construction and end use contracts will be also asked to set targets for employing a local workforce, and for employing Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, women and disabled people who are traditionally under-represented in the workforce. It was the case with LLDC, that once they had built this requirement into contracts, in many cases, bidders came back with targets above the minimum.

Where the OPDC has a direct contractual relationship with employers and contractors, they will be asked to provide monitoring data on the outcomes and destinations of recruits and apprentices, and undertake on-site surveys which will ask for residency information, among other things to ensure targets are being met.

As a result of investment in a new HS2 and Crossrail interchange station, due to open at Old Oak Common in 2026, the regeneration in the wider area is estimated to deliver 67,900 new jobs across the area. It is most likely that the first new jobs will be in construction and other construction related sectors to support the infrastructure and development of Old Oak.

The first jobs and apprenticeships are likely to become available in the next 12 months in the earlier phases of regeneration in Old Oak North and in North Acton.

In Old Oak South, where the new HS2 and Cross Rail stations will be built, it is envisaged that there will be 41,300 jobs created. Opportunities in construction should be available in approximately 2 years’ time.

The majority of jobs and/or apprenticeships in the new commercial centres and retail area in Old Oak South should become available post 2026 when Old Oak Common station is due to open. Jobs and apprenticeships are already available within the 1,700 businesses located in Park Royal.

OPDC’s Future Employment Growth Sectors Study considers the types of employment sectors that could locate and grow in the area, and what conditions are necessary to attract these sectors, and enable them to remain in the area.

This Study identified the following sectors:

• Manufacturing (particularly food)
• Transport and Logistics
• Motor trades
• Business Support Services
• Creative Manufacturing
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Business and Professional Services
• ICT, Digital Media and Creative Services
• Med Tech
• Low Carbon (Clean Tech).

In addition to this, the types of jobs and training opportunities they may become available, are in:

• construction – such as surveyors, civil engineering, rail engineering and technical, in particular on the HS2 and Crossrail sites. HS2 will be offering training through their National College for High Speed Rail in Birmingham to train apprentices. Construction training and qualifications is also offered at local FE colleges
• the “innovation” economy – such as clean air technology, applied sciences, life sciences, creative industries, digital and innovation technology
• education and health institutions – the expansion of Imperial College, hospitals, new health care provision and new schools
• Park Royal – there is already a diverse range of sectors with a greater presence of logistics, prop houses and film studios, food manufacturing and wholesale as well as vehicle sale and repair
• commercial and retail opportunities – in particular, around the Old Oak South and the new stations, Old Oak High Street and North Acton areas
• tourism and leisure services – in any new cultural or visitor attractions that may be developed
• opportunities for entrepreneurs – in new micro, small and medium businesses through open workspace and temporary employment uses, such as pop ups/meanwhile uses.

OPDC will be working with partners and other stakeholders to help ensure co-ordinated, training and employment support is available.

Securing access to employment, skills training, apprenticeships and pre-employment support for local people is a priority of OPDC. OPDC is working closely with the local authorities, Job Centre Plus and local employment brokerage and support organisations to develop effective routes into work, to bridge the gaps between employers, local people and training organisations, to get local people into long-term jobs. The opportunities will be promoted by employers, job brokerage schemes, in schools and higher/further education establishments and in OPDC communications activity. Keep coming back to our site for more information.

Yes, as a Mayoral Development Corporation, OPDC promotes Mayoral policies, including adoption of the London Living Wage. OPDC will encourage developers, employers, and contractors, where it has a direct contractual relationship to demonstrate that they, or their contractors, will pay employees a London Living Wage

The OPDC boundary area has been split into 12 places and 10 of these have been identified as having the capacity to provide new jobs. The areas that have the capacity to accommodate new jobs are as follows:

• Park Royal West – 4,200 new jobs
• Old Park Royal – 1,400 new jobs
• Old Oak South - 41,300 new jobs
• Old Oak North - 5,100 new jobs
• Channel Gate - 7,600 new jobs
• Willesden Junction – 200 new jobs
• Scrubs Lane - 1,100 new jobs
• Old Oak Lane and Old Oak Common Lane – 1,100 new jobs
• North Acton - 4,300 new jobs
• Park Royal Centre – 1,400 new jobs.