Hillingdon Council has officially adopted its first Growth Plan, a strategic framework designed to stimulate economic development and regeneration across the borough over the next decade. The plan, approved by the Cabinet on Thursday, 23 July 2026, aims to transform Hillingdon into a place where global gateway creates local opportunity,
focusing on resilience, inclusivity, and pride.
The Hillingdon Growth Plan outlines a vision to leverage the borough's significant assets, including Heathrow Airport and the Elizabeth Line, to foster economic growth that benefits residents. The plan is structured around three key pillars: Innovate, Connect, and Thrive.
Innovate aims to strengthen high-value sectors and support business growth. Key sectors identified for focus include creative industries and technologies, frontier innovation (digital and technology, clean energy, transport, logistics), and the experience economy. Strategies for creative industries involve leveraging the Uxbridge-Hayes creative and media corridor, expanding affordable workspace, and strengthening links between education and employers. For frontier innovation, plans include anchoring data centre growth to community benefit by working with education partners to deliver career pathways, and supporting scale-ups with innovation and research networks. The experience economy will be grown around town centres by improving offerings and maximizing green and blue spaces.
Connect focuses on linking residents to jobs and improving infrastructure. Concrete plans include making the case for investing in transport that improves north-south connectivity within Hillingdon, providing better access to jobs, training, and services across the borough. The plan also aims to position residents to benefit from proposed Heathrow expansion by leading a Heathrow Economic Activity Zone partnership to maximize local benefits, including securing dedicated skills funding, apprenticeships, and supply chain opportunities for local businesses and residents. Furthermore, it seeks to align skills with emerging opportunities by partnering with educational institutions and businesses to design accredited courses for roles in data, creative, and green sectors, and building clear routes from education to employment.
Thrive is dedicated to delivering homes, regenerating town centres, and enhancing the quality of life for communities. The plan identifies four key growth areas with specific regeneration visions:
- Uxbridge and Brunel Quarter: Envisioned as a vibrant metropolitan hub where learning, commerce, and culture intersect, with plans for improved public realm, new spaces, and enhanced connectivity.
- Hayes, Stockley Park and The Old Vinyl Factory: This area is envisioned as a confident and creative urban centre, leveraging Elizabeth Line connectivity and heritage assets.
- Heathrow Economic Activity Zone: Planned to transform into a strategic gateway of opportunity, clustering businesses and circulating Heathrow-linked economic value locally.
- Towns and green spaces north of the A40: These areas are envisioned as lifestyle-led suburban centres rooted in heritage, greenery, and liveability.
Councillor Steve Tuckwell, Leader of the Council, stated that the plan represents a shift from merely facilitating growth to actively shaping it. Rather than simply responding to growth as it happens, this council will take an active leadership role in now shaping it,
he said during the Cabinet meeting. The plan's implementation is set to begin from September 2026.
To drive the plan forward, Hillingdon Council will adopt a system leadership role, coordinating efforts across services and collaborating with businesses, education providers, and neighbouring authorities. A cross-Council Growth Board will be established to oversee delivery and ensure alignment with strategic priorities. The board's mandate will be to identify and unlock opportunities for growth with corporate alignment, ensuring internal accountability and external collaboration with stakeholders.
The Growth Plan also emphasizes the importance of partnership working, with collaborations planned with Brunel University of London, local colleges, the Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce, and major employers like Heathrow Airport. These partnerships aim to coordinate investment in skills, infrastructure, and regeneration to ensure growth benefits local residents and businesses.
Performance will be monitored through a set of key performance indicators, including growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) and productivity, employment rates, housing delivery, and town centre vitality. Specific targets include increasing employment rates, median earnings, and the number of residents progressing into higher-skilled roles, as well as unlocking 1,500 stalled homes and accelerating affordable delivery. The plan also aims to reduce vacancy rates and increase footfall across key town centres.
The council aims to ensure that economic growth genuinely benefits local residents through its Inclusivity
vision. This includes securing dedicated skills funding and apprenticeships tied to Heathrow expansion, and building clear pathways from education to employment. The plan also commits to unlocking stalled homes and accelerating affordable housing delivery, exploring provision for key worker housing to attract and retain diverse talent.
The Growth Plan acknowledges several challenges, including poor north-south connectivity, underutilization of the academic and vocational network, physical infrastructure limitations, declining economic output, high office vacancy rates, and spatial inequalities. Mitigation strategies involve investing in transport, aligning skills with emerging opportunities, working with developers to accelerate housing delivery, and transforming town centres into destinations. The plan also aims to improve the everyday environment and make green and blue spaces accessible to enhance wellness and support a high-quality residential environment.
The plan was approved by the Cabinet on Thursday, 23 July 2026. Further details can be found in the Public reports pack and Printed minutes.