Boris is back to talk business

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was back in Croydon again last month for a special event held at the Ashcroft Theatre on 22 July, just weeks after speaking at the Outer London Summit in the Croydon Park Hotel. The local business community was out in force to put their questions to the Mayor at this all ticket affair, based on the theme of 'building a road to economic recovery'.

The Mayor heaped praise on Croydon - something that he has made a bit of a habit of lately - remarking on how pleased he was to be in one of London's most dynamic boroughs once again.

"It's clear that Croydon is making fantastic strides towards becoming the third city of London," he said, in an opening address. "Of course, it is already an economic powerhouse in its own right."

He was joined on the panel for the debate by Tony Kildare, CEO of the Croydon Economic Development Company (CEDC), Peter Bishop, Group Director for Design, Development & Environment at the LDA, Anthony Browne, Policy Director on Economic & Business for the GLA, Peter Pledger, CEO of South London Business and Sue Tepilowski, London Policy Chair for the FSB. Cllr Steve O'Connell, Croydon's Cabinet member for Regeneration & Economic Development, chaired the evening.

"I've seen the plans or redevelopment in Croydon, and I believe that the plans are sensible," Boris continued, looking ahead to the prospects for the end of the recession. "They are predicated upon an economic recovery that will certainly come - and I think that there are signs that the recovery is coming already. In fact there are sectors of London's economy that are effectively in a kind of credit crunch denial.

"I have no doubt that Croydon will lead London out of the recession and that London will lead the UK forward when the recession is over."

Tony Kildare, who has recently been appointed the CEO for the new CEDC added that he was looking forward to playing a major role in driving forward the local economy. "The CEDC will build upon the solid base already in place here in the borough," he said. "We need to drive forward out of the recession and raise the bar for Croydon."

The panel answered questions from the floor on a range of issues, before the evening came to close at around 8.30pm. Earlier in the evening VIPs attended a reception at Croydon College as guests of the CEDC. They were treated to wine and canapés, before making their way on to front row seats at the Ashcroft Theatre event.