The South East is the UK’s fastest growing economic region outside London, with the Thames Valley home to three of the top five UK towns and cities best placed for growth in 2016, confirms the annual ‘UK Vitality Index’ published by commercial property consultancy, Lambert Smith Hampton.
• The Vitality Index identifies towns and cities that have healthy and robust local economies, are best placed to support growth and will provide opportunities for businesses to expand
• Four of the top five locations are in the South East – Brighton, Oxford, Reading and Guildford
• Notably, three of the top five places are in the Thames Valley
Affluent commuter towns, such as Guildford, performed well, as did dynamic hubs of commerce and hi-tech industry, such as Oxford and Reading. While falling outside the top ten, Maidenhead ranked highly in the most entrepreneurial index and fastest growing index and has the largest number of businesses per 1,000 people. This town will benefit from Crossrail and Western Rail Access to Heathrow and it will be very interesting to see if it appears in the top ten list in 2017.
Lambert Smith Hampton’s Head of the Thames Valley, Nick Coote, comments: “The Thames Valley stands out as the most successful location for business outside London due to its quality living environment, connectivity to the City and Heathrow, all attracting a creative, educated, skilled workforce.”
