Enfield

Population: 312 500 inhabitantsSurface: 82,2 Km2Unemployment rate: 12,3 % The London Borough of Enfield was created in 1965 and is one of the 33 London boroughs, located approximately 15 kilometres north of the centre of London. It has a population of 312,500 and covers an area of 82.2 square kilometres. Enfield is London’s most northern borough; it is also one of the greenest boroughs in London with 105 parks and open spaces.The population of Enfield is ethnically diverse with 33.5% of residents from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities, the largest of which is Turkish. Other ethnic groups include Afro-Caribbean, Bangladeshi, other Asian and Greek Cypriot.Enfield has a strong industrial heritage and was the birthplace of several technological innovations including the world's first ATM. Enfield is still home to well-known names including Coca Cola, Sony and Johnson Matthey. Former famous residents include horror actor Boris Karloff and the singer Amy Winehouse.

Enfield, like many other parts of Europe, now faces serious challenges. Enfield’s once thriving manufacturing base has seen 40 years of industrial decline. In the 1970s, over half of local jobs were in manufacturing; today this accounts for less than 6%. Today Enfield’s employment offer is predominantly public sector, retail and distribution.
Enfield has seen the biggest rise of population claiming out of work benefits of all London boroughs since 2001. Rates of employment are much worse for women, particularly lone parents, Black and minority ethnic groups and young people aged 16-24. Welfare Reform in the UK is likely to lead to changes in Enfield’s demographic profile which will add to our current challenges.
We are poised to tackle these challenges by ensuring better partnership working with all sectors including education, government employment agencies, local business and our vibrant voluntary and community sector. We are proactively working with businesses to ensure that Enfield people have the right skills to take up local job opportunities. Several major regeneration schemes are underway and will lead to opportunities that we are keen to seize and ensure benefits for all Enfield’s citizens, young and old.
Through participating in the JobTown project, we are keen to work with and learn from our European partners and neighbours to develop a sustainable future providing good quality jobs for all our young people that allow them to progress in work.