West meets East

It seem like all roads lead to Newham. Each time I go to Stratford it looks different. There was a real buzz of excitement as Westfield prepared to open. Every workman in East London was there putting the finishing touches to the shops and eager new employees were being picked up from the station steps by anxious store managers.

Now it's all open, it brings an air of confidence with it. I'm delighted to say that - thanks to some brilliant partnership work between Westfield and Workplace, Newham's One Stop employment shop - over 1,000 local people, many of whom were long term unemployed, have found work which can lead to sustainable careers. Skills Place, the new joint venture training operation from Westfield and Newham, will enable employees to move up the ladder enabling even more local people to access jobs.

ELBA has been working with Newham to support this process and is unlocking the doors to employment with our member companies and their sub-contractors. We are also focused on raising the skills, aspirations and ambitions of the local community, working with youth groups and supporting Newham schools though our award-winning Business Support Groups.

It’s Newham’s chance to shine and local people are grabbing these new opportunities with both hands. Westfield is just the beginning…the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) are already planning how to optimise access to jobs for local people when the park goes into post-Games operational mode.

If you’d like to have a stake in East London and want to find out more about the Newham programme contact Alison White: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .