It might not be too long before the old Specials line, about “This town, is nothing but a ghost town” will be applied to Croydon, after Nestlé, the borough’s biggest private employer, confirmed to the Evening Standard today that it is considering moving its UK HQ.
Croydon’s Tory leaders were asked about the rumours at the cabinet meeting on Monday, but denied all knowledge, as they rubber-stamped their plans to axe 2,000 jobs from the council’s staff.
Were Nestlé to leave Croydon as well, we will soon be seeing tumbleweed rolling along Wellesley Road.
The spectacularly named Mike Didymus, who usually works all hours at the Croydon Guardian (is he allowed to get bylined in the Standard?), reports today that, “The food giant has been trying to relocate from its crumbling skyscraper in Park Lane for years, after a succession of large-scale redevelopment schemes in the town centre fell through.”
Nestlé has been based at St George’s House since 1965. Was it deliberate when Didymus also reported that there are “no concrete plans” for the firm to move to east London?
