Spotlight Focus: Park Royal

Park Royal is the UK’s largest industrial estate, covering approximately 584 hectares, an area equivalent in size to the City of London. The estate is already a major economic contributor in the capital and nationally, with over 1,700 businesses and 43,000 jobs.

And its future is looking bright. Park Royal is at the confluence of all the transport infrastructure that makes the borough of Ealing such an eye-catching place to invest. Already an industrial powerhouse, there are plans in place that will see it become a world centre for science, technology, and innovation.

Join us as we explore some hidden treasures of Park Royal and hear firsthand from some of the London Living Wage accredited businesses based in the area.

A growing innovation economy

Last year, Imperial College London announced major investment in the area, to drive forward the development of the WestTech Corridor - a new globally competitive hub for science and technological advancement that runs through west London. These new uses will build on the proud industrial history at Park Royal and existing specialisms in advanced manufacturing across west London.

This investment supports the wider work underway by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation to bring forward regeneration of the area, with huge benefits for current and new residents and businesses. OPDC’s Local Plan supports development which will unlock 56,000 new jobs and 250,000 square metres of new workspace across the area, boosting the economy by around £7.65bn a year.

Peter Mason is the leader of Ealing Council. “The West Tech Corridor will be a major game changer for Ealing in securing good growth in a high tech, emerging economy,” he told us. “It builds on the growing role life sciences plays in west London, and this investment marks real confidence in the future of Park Royal.”

Excellent transport connectivity

The estate benefits from close proximity to the West End and central London, as well as excellent access to the national road network.

The Old Oak Common HS2 station is set to transform Park Royal into one of the most connected locations in the capital, as the only interchange between HS2 and the Elizabeth line. With Heathrow also on the estate’s doorstep, its connectivity is unrivalled.

Wellworking, an award-winning supplier of office and home office furniture, is based at Western Avenue Business Park. Its managing director, Luke Munro, thinks location is key to the company’s ongoing success.

“Wellworking has been the UK’s number 1 rated office furniture company in terms of customer feedback in each of the last 10 years, and much of that is down to our location near Park Royal,” he said. “The road network close by allow us to fulfil our 1-hour delivery timeslots to offices and homes all over the southeast in over 98% of our deliveries.”

London’s breadbasket

The area is home to some of the country’s biggest food producers. Approximately one-