Islington launches ten-year plan for inclusive economic growth

Islington Council has launched a ten-year plan aimed at fostering inclusive economic growth across the borough, ensuring that the benefits of economic expansion are shared more equitably among local residents and businesses.

The Islington Inclusive Growth Plan, approved by the council's Executive on Thursday 22 October 2026, acknowledges Islington's strong economy, which generates £26 billion in annual output and supports 271,000 jobs. However, it highlights that these benefits are not always distributed evenly, with particular focus on bridging the gap for young people on council estates in the north of the borough.

Councillor James Potts, Executive Member for Inclusive Economy and Planning, presented the plan, stating that while Islington is a significant economic hub, its opportunities are not always accessible to all residents. The plan aims to bridge this gap by focusing on nine key areas:

1. Improving youth employment and early career access.
2. Reducing barriers for residents furthest from opportunity.
3. Fixing the workspace ladder.
4. Hardwiring social impact into development.
5. Turbo-charging our anchor institution network.
6. Shaping neighbourhood economies for long-term success.
7. Building a resilient, adaptive and locally-rooted business base.
8. Developing a Frontier Innovation Growth Corridor.
9. Amplifying Islington's Shared Successes.

Targeted support for youth and those facing barriers

The plan aims to deliver a step-change in youth employment and early career access by connecting more residents to opportunity. This will be achieved through targeted support for young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET), developing a borough-wide skills system aligned with growth sectors, and strengthening partnerships with employers to provide work experience and routes into employment.

The Islington Working service will partner with businesses to tap into overlooked talent pools and reduce hiring costs, offering candidate screening, skills training, and ongoing support. Furthermore, the Connect to Work Programme will assist disabled people, those with health problems, and autistic individuals in finding jobs, providing one-to-one support, job planning, skills development, interview preparation, and workplace assistance.

Specific barriers identified for residents furthest from opportunity include spatial barriers, childcare responsibilities, health and disability, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) needs, and digital access. To address these, the plan commits to expanding pathways into employment for people with long-term health conditions and disabilities, creating flexible, neighbourhood-based routes into learning and employment, and developing seamless progression routes from community learning and foundational skills into technical education, apprenticeships, and employment.

Strengthening the 'workspace ladder' and local economies

The 'workspace ladder' addresses a critical gap between subsidised workspace and Grade A commercial floorspace, which currently forces growing firms to leave Islington. To strengthen this, the plan will develop a dedicated 'Stay in Islington' offer for scaling firms, work with developers and landlords to create new pathways into high-quality workspace for local businesses, and establish a functioning workspace ladder that enables firms to progress from start-up and incubation space through to larger commercial premises within the borough.

The plan aligns with the London Growth Plan and aims to create a more resilient, productive, and equitable local economy. It is projected that over the next decade, the borough's Gross Value Added (GVA) could grow by £8 billion annually, with an additional 46,000 jobs created. The plan aims to benefit more residents, particularly young people and those furthest from opportunity, by supporting them to access good jobs, skills, and progression routes in growth sectors.

Measuring success

The success of the Islington Inclusive Growth Plan will be measured and monitored through a phased delivery approach. Year 1 will focus on strengthening the conditions for success, including relationships, evidence, governance, tools, pilots, and delivery mechanisms. Years 2–4 will focus on scaling and embedding effective approaches, aiming for stronger pathways into growth sectors, better business engagement, more consistent development outcomes, and a sharper local growth offer. Years 5–10 will focus on sustaining, refining, and reshaping the borough's economy for the long term, embedding inclusive growth as standard practice.

Specific indicators to track progress against the nine shifts include:

• Youth employment: Percentage of 16-17 year olds NEET; percentage of young people claiming employment-related benefits.
• Barriers to participation: Percentage of residents economically inactive by neighbourhood; percentage of residents economically inactive due to ill health; percentage of residents who do not speak English well or at all; resident earnings.
• Workspace ladder: Square metres of affordable workspace delivered; square metres of 'grow-on' workspace delivered; business births and deaths.
• Social impact into development: Value of social impact commitments secured (£); number of apprenticeships and completions; number of work experience placements; number of curriculum support activities.
• Anchor institution network: Number of local people employed by anchor institutions; pounds spent by anchors with local SMEs.
• Neighbourhood economies: High street spend; high street footfall and dwell time; high street vacancy; percentage satisfied with the local area as a place to live.
• Resilient business base: Business births and deaths; business demography changes; pounds spent by Islington with local business and social enterprises; workplace earnings.
• Frontier Innovation Growth Corridor: Square metres of lab innovation, laboratory, grow-on and specialist workspace delivered; number of frontier innovation businesses based in Islington; number of frontier innovation jobs in the borough.
• Amplifying shared successes: Business change relative to London and the UK average; GVA change relative to London and the UK average; employment change relative to London and the UK average; economic specialisms relative to the London and UK average.

The plan was approved by the council's Executive, as detailed in the Decisions 22nd October 2026 Executive document.