Catford is the administrative centre of South East London's Lewisham Council area which includes a number of recruitment agencies keen to help local people find employment.
The agencies are located in a borough which has a population of 275,000. Lewisham Council is the largest employer in the area with a total of 8,500 members of staff. Almost half of these employees - 4,000 - work in the council's 95 schools.
A further 6,500 people who work locally are also public sector employees. These employers include the Metropolitan Police, the NHS including Lewisham Hospital, Lewisham College and Goldsmiths, a campus of the University of London.
Employment in the private sector is mainly provided by small and medium sized businesses. However, a small number of large retail businesses also provide jobs in the Catford area as well as some medium sized office supply companies.
Regeneration plans for Catford are likely to create more employment opportunities in the area with the redevelopment of the shopping centre and the provision of a new Tesco store.
However, most economically active members of the community - around 70 per cent - work mainly in central London, which is easily accessed by frequent rail and bus services.
