London’s Deputy Mayor for Business visits Sutton town centre and London Cancer Hub

Rajesh Agrawal, London’s Deputy Mayor for Business, visited Sutton town centre last week to see our vision to create one of the most vibrant town centres in London. 

During his time in Sutton, Rajesh visited the Sound Lounge, a grassroots music venue on Sutton High Street, dedicated to live music like Americana, blues and folk performances in the evenings. In the daytime, the venue functions as a café, bar and plant-based kitchen.

Rajesh spoke with founders Hannah and Kieron about their business challenges, and what they enjoyed most about setting up their business in Sutton. He also got a chance to speak to Sutton Council colleagues about the process of converting the old bank building into a vibrant new home for the Sound Lounge.

He also visited the old BHS building, where the upper floors are currently being transformed into Oru Sutton, which will offer 500 desk spaces and 40 private offices for established businesses, start-ups and sole traders to thrive and grow in Sutton, supported by GLA and Strategic Investment Pot funding. There will also be two wellbeing studios offering classes that focus on good mental and physical health, and new places to eat and drink.

A walk up the high street showed Rajesh our exciting plans to develop Throwley Yard as a cinema and cultural hub for Sutton, with a food hall and flexible public space. The site will be brought back to life after standing empty for nearly ten years!

They also passed the St Nicholas Centre, where Rajesh learned about its development. The £26m purchase was made as part of the Council’s ambitious plans to regenerate the town centre and ensure that the future high street offers the local community an attractive destination with a range of businesses and organisations located there. 

Finally, the Deputy Mayor visited The London Cancer Hub. This district will bring thousands of jobs to Sutton in the next decade and plays a huge part in developing life-changing research to tackle cancer. 

Rajesh went to see the Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD), a new state-of-the-art drug discovery centre set up by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, to develop drugs and improve treatment for cancer patients. Situated adjacent to the CCDD is the Innovation Gateway, where Rajesh met businesses in the incubator workspace and learned about how Sutton Council is developing a world-class partnership between start-ups and The Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden hospital all in one district. 

Cllr Ruth Dombey, Leader of the Council, tweeted: "I was pleased to welcome Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Business, to Sutton to learn more about our excellent local businesses, hear about Sutton Council's exciting plans to regenerate our town centre and tour the London Cancer Hub site."