Key Business Facts

• Barking & Dagenham Enterprise has a budget of £15.5 million over the three years 2006-2009 through the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, a Government programme to boost business and enterprise.
• Barking & Dagenham is a green-minded and business-friendly borough
• The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (LBBD) encourages its departments and LBBD partners to buy local
• The public transport system, both within the borough and to the rest of the capital, is excellent
• LBBD offers a free recruitment service
• Local programmes help you turn your business waste into new products
• Grant aid is available to some businesses, for example to help expansion
• Over 250 funding schemes for businesses in the borough from European Union, national, regional and local sources
• The next five to 20 years will see huge investment in the Thames Gateway, 2012 London Olympics and Barking Riverside
• Over two-thirds of the population is economically active
• The population, now 165,000 is expected to increase by 30,000 in the next ten years
• There are over 5,000 small businesses employing more than half of the working population
• Large public-sector employers include the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, Barking College and the National Health Service
• Big private-sector employers include British Bakeries, Dairy Crest, Ford, Hapag Lloyd, Moss Bros, Sanofi-Aventis, Securitas (Loomis) and Thames Power

Barking & Dagenham Occupational Profile

Professional & technical = 25%
Clerical and administrative = 20%
Manufacturing = 17%
Skilled trades = 13%
Other = 23%