Last week we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Workplace, our jobs brokerage service.

In 2007 we had a vision for local people. Westfield and the Olympic Park were on their way, bringing jobs and investment into the borough.

But we new that we could not let these opportunities pass local people by, as had happened in other boroughs. We had witnessed the building of Canary Wharf, bringing wealth into Tower Hamlets that did not reach local people.

At the time unemployment in Newham was high and the job centres were not working. Entrenched worklessness was holding our people back.

So we worked with our partners to create a service that would work for both the employers and residents. That began our journey with Workplace.

Since then the figures speak for themselves. Over 35,000 good sustainable jobs have been filled with local people. Workplace has successfully supported people, giving them the skills they need in the working world.

This has meant the largest increase in employment in all of London – employment rising 11 per cent between 2010 and 2015 – and a dramatic fall in deprivation.

4,600 jobs in Westfield have been filled through Workplace, as well as hundreds of jobs at London City Airport, to name just two of our partners.

I am really proud of what we have achieved. It is more progress towards our mission for a resilient borough.

Councillors and partners joined together for a special event last week to celebrate our achievements.

Partners from Westfield, London City Airport, Lendlease and many others joined with former Workplace candidates to recognise a successful 10 years of job growth.

We also reflected and looked forward to the next 10 years. With the country in need of skills and experience, Workplace will play a huge part in moving that agenda forward.

We couldn’t have achieved this without our partners and without the cooperation of local employers. I want to thank all the staff, employers and the candidates themselves who have helped to make a success.