As little as 30 years ago, manufacturing and port-related activities dominated the Royal Greenwich economy.

Extensive inward investment, workforce training and land development have brought about a more diverse industry base in the borough, with a range of emerging industry clusters.

Royal Greenwich now enjoys a modern, forward-thinking business community, with well-developed business networks.

Developing sectors

Royal Greenwich's industry sector profile is characterised by:

• business and financial services, representing the fastest-growing sector over the past 10 years due to being near to the business districts of Canary Wharf and the City
• strong and expanding cultural and creative industry clusters, including ICT and media, attracted by the Royal Borough's cultural heritage and growing client bases
• tourism and leisure industries, focused around the World Heritage Site in west Greenwich, the heritage quarter in the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich and venues such as The O2 on Greenwich Peninsula
• the continuing presence of a traditional manufacturing and engineering sector
• a growth in the number of logistics and distribution companies benefiting from Royal Greenwich's transport network.

A diverse, multi-skilled workforce

Royal Greenwich prides itself on a diverse and multi-skilled workforce, stemming from its huge diversity of people and history.

In 2010, there were over 102,000 people employed in the borough according to the Office for National Statistics. Royal Greenwich's workforce is employed in a range of occupations, with 50 per cent of people employed in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations.

Around 35.3 per cent of the workforce are educated to degree level (NVQ4).

Leading educational establishments located in Royal Greenwich include Ravensbourne, the University of Greenwich, London South East Colleges and Trinity Laban.

High local staff potential

Royal Greenwich offers your business access to a well-trained and skilled local labour force. A high proportion of the workforce live and work in Royal Greenwich, providing local businesses with an advantage in recruitment and retention of staff. A full range of specialist skills is available within south-east London.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich has supported many work-related training programmes, including Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB). This successful local labour initiative won a Beacon Council award for the Royal Borough and can help you with staffing needs through its free recruitment service and other schemes.