Hammersmith & Fulham has the fourth largest proportion of jobs in the “knowledge economy” of any London borough, according to figures from Future of London.
The 63% of jobs in the borough that are with knowledge sector companies is well above the London average of 53%, but behind the City, Tower Hamlets and Islington. Harrow is on 52%, Hounslow 44%, Ealing 41% and Brent at 35%. Hillingdon has the lowest proportion of any London Borough at 26%.
Hillingdon of course is home to Brunel University, and the hi-tech cluster around Stockley Park, but the calculation, as a percentage of total jobs, is skewed by the 76,000 jobs in the transport and logistics sector at Heathrow, and the relatively low level of public sector knowledge economy jobs in the borough.
Many boroughs have substantial public sector knowledge economy employment, particularly those in the East. Hillingdon has more private sector knowledge economy jobs than Bexley, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Lewisham and Haringey, but public sector emplyment in these areas vastly exceeds that in Hillingdon, and other western boroughs.
Helena Webster, Hillingdon’s Economic Development Manager said: “The UK Competitiveness index ranks Hillingdon above a number of London Boroughs, including Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Bexley, Enfield, Haringey & Waltham Forest.”
Ben Harrison, from Future for London, points out that the figures are percentages, so as to compare the concentration within boroughs on the sector, and that “there is a low concentration of knowledge economy jobs in LB Hillingdon as a percentage of total jobs, with the significant presence of other sectors, such as transport and logistics. However, in absolute terms, the Borough has a considerable number of knowledge economy jobs, which if measured purely on those terms, would place it above a number of other London Boroughs.”
