150,000 jobs for London: what the Growth Plan promises and what is verified

The London Growth Plan is a ten-year strategy developed by City Hall and business. Its central ambition is to raise productivity growth to an average 2% a year between 2025 and 2035. If achieved, City Hall estimates London's economy would be £107 billion larger in 2035 than under the baseline scenario.

150,000 jobs is a target, not a result

The plan aims to create more than 150,000 additional good jobs by 2028. City Hall uses good work to mean more than employment alone: it includes fair pay, safe conditions and opportunities to progress. Priority areas include AI, life sciences, robotics, clean technology, financial and professional services, creative industries, housing and infrastructure.

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The 150,000 jobs do not already exist. In an official Freedom of Information response, City Hall gave a provisional result: early analysis of a small number of programmes suggested more than 35,000 jobs were “created, supported or safeguarded” in 2024/25. The full list of contributing programmes and final methodology were not yet complete, and the estimate may change. A newly created job and an existing job safeguarded are also different outcomes, so 35,000 cannot simply be counted against the future target.

What £107 billion and £11,000 mean

£107 billion is not a grant pot or a programme budget. It is the estimated additional size of London's economy in 2035 if annual productivity growth reaches 2%. Likewise, the Mayor's statement that the average Londoner could be £11,000 better off each year in ten years is an economic projection, not a promised payment or guaranteed salary rise.

Two other measurable ambitions are a 20% rise by 2035 in real weekly income after housing costs for the lowest-income 20% of households, and services export growth averaging at least 6% a year. London separately targets net zero by 2030.

What has been funded

One confirmed instrument is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. City Hall records a London allocation of £144,444,970 for 2022–25. By May 2026, its programmes had supported 32,000 enterprises and 21,509 people through employment and skills activity; 6,197 people had moved into employment, education or training, and 3,000 jobs had been created. These are UKSPF results, not results for the entire Growth Plan.

Local business support received £30 million through 28 projects in 2022–25, followed by £8 million to extend 26 projects in 2025/26. City Hall also describes a £21 million boost for high streets.

What this means for small businesses

The Growth Plan itself is not a funding application. The practical entry point for sole traders and SMEs is Grow London Local, which provides free diagnosis, advice and referral to relevant local support, training or finance. We have separately checked the free Grow London Local offer and its conditions.

• Technology businesses: watch programmes in AI, life sciences, robotics and clean tech, where the city intends to connect investment, research, skills and sites.
• Employers: use subsidised skills provision and check the Good Work Standard; the plan targets job quality as well as quantity.
• Suppliers: search GLA Group and council opportunities through the official Central Digital Platform rather than paying an intermediary for a “guaranteed tender”.
• Businesses dependent on premises or deliveries: review the Infrastructure Framework to 2050 and the planned London Logistics Plan, which City Hall expects by the end of 2026.

What to do now

1. Record your baseline: turnover, productivity per employee, exports and job numbers. Without it, support outcomes cannot be evidenced.
2. Complete the free Grow London Local diagnosis and ask for current programmes specific to your borough and sector.
3. Check grants and contracts on official pages: the Growth Plan does not distribute cash directly.
4. Do not treat projections as guarantees. Build a conservative business case and describe £107 billion and £11,000 only as conditional City Hall estimates.

ONLYWAY NEWS will continue checking reported results against the published metrics. The fair conclusion today is that the direction and major goals are established and individual programmes have measurable outcomes, but the overall jobs figure remains provisional and the 2028 and 2035 targets still have to be demonstrated.