The Lewisham Creative Enterprise Zone

Lewisham has been chosen as one of the capital’s first ever Creative Enterprise Zones (CEZ).

Creative Enterprise Zones find areas of London where artists and creative businesses can find permanent affordable space to work and are supported to start-up and grow.

The Lewisham Creative Enterprise Zone focuses on New Cross and Deptford in the north of the borough where local people are helped to learn creative sector skills and find new jobs.

Find out more about the Lewisham Creative Enterprise Zone.

Lewisham Affordable Workspace Strategy

Following the re-accreditation of the Deptford and New Cross Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ) last year – a Mayor of London initiative to support the local creative and digital sectors – we promised to create a plan to increase affordable workspaces across the borough. 

We have developed our Affordable Workspace Strategy and action plan to align with our Corporate Priority of growing ’a strong local economy’. By providing affordable workspace, we will attract more businesses to Lewisham and generate more opportunities for jobs to be created. This also helps ensure our borough remains the best place in London for entrepreneurs to start businesses. 

Our action plan includes steps to help deliver the strategy over two years, following its approval. These include forging key relationships with potential development partners and workspace providers, making the most of mixed use developments, ensuring our plans are future-proofed and setting up a way to measure the impact. 

The Affordable Workspace Strategy has four main objectives:

• Create and safeguard affordable workspaces, using the planning system to protect existing spaces and acquire new ones. 
• Ensure that workspaces are affordable and accessible to everyone.
• Expand affordable workspaces to each neighbourhood in the borough, giving more residents opportunities to start businesses and network. 
• Develop an agile approach which is flexible, can adapt to changing circumstances and seize new opportunities.

Read the full Affordable Workplace Strategy and action plan.

To discuss in more detail, please contact Business@lewisham.gov.uk