Business FACTS -

Slough is the third most productive town in the UK, contributing approximately £8bn to the National
economy; double the UK average

Whatever your career aspirations, Slough is full of opportunity, with 77,000 people employed in the town
and 500,000 people within a twenty minute radius by car

Slough’s first economic assessment (2006) confirmed
the health of Slough economy and its contribution to both
the residents of Slough and to UK business

A renewed focus for Slough will see the borough continue to develop the skills of its workforce and local population and to increase the amount of business
start-ups

Key highlights of Slough’s economy:

83,000 jobs in total
4,600 enterprises
70% of 16 to 65 year olds in work –
above the national average
Total turnover of £7.5 billion
Output of approximately £2.5 billion
£700 million of output in manufacturing
9,000 jobs in manufacturing
Continued growth in service sector jobs
Growth sectors include telecommunications, biotechnology, consumer electronics, ICT, auto, business and financial, pharma and healthcare
Productivity score of 186.65 ranked 3rd in UK outside London (Source Local Future State of the Nation 2006)
Job based salaries £603 per week, this is above South East and UK average

Communications

Not only does Slough have a highly-skilled workforce, but its world-class strategic communication links
with other cities allow access to a vast base of skilled workers within a 45-minute commute time

Future developments of the transport infrastructure are essential to ensure the large volume of people employed at Heathrow (which has risen with the opening on Terminal 5 in 2008) have accessible
transport systems

Road

Slough is based next to the M4 motorway giving easy access to London, Reading and the South West region

In addition to these motorways, the road network is supported by the A355 (north of Slough towards the M40 and Amersham); the A4 (travels the length of Slough to Maidenhead and on to the West); and A412 (to Uxbridge)

Solutions to heavy traffic being considered include the
widening of Junction 7 to 8/9 or Junction 5 to 8/9

Around 80% of Heathrow Airport’s staff travel to work by road and so the implications for Slough’s road infrastructure are significant

Heathrow is only 10 minutes away from the centre of Slough.
There is a direct bus service and future plans for more services are being looked at

Rail

The town is served by six trains per hour into London – 15 minutes to Paddington, on the First Great Western Link service

There are two other local stations, at Langley in the East of the borough and Burnham in the West

Crossrail

The proposed ‘Crossrail’ service will link Slough to East London and provide direct access to the West End,
City, Canary Wharf and beyond without the need to change trains

The £15.9 billion Crossrail project will create 118km of state-of-the-art railway between Maidenhead, Slough, west of London and Shenfield and Abbey Wood to the east, en-route linking Heathrow Airport, the West End, the City of London and Canary Wharf

Crossrail will bring 1.5 million people within an hour's commute of London's financial and commercial centres, improve access to the UKs principal airport and national rail stations and relieve congestion on London Underground

Detailed design is underway. Enabling and advance construction works have started and the first major construction packages will commence in 2010

Western Rail Access to Heathrow

Slough Borough Council is a key player in the development of the Western Access to Heathrow Project, which aims to link Heathrow T5 to the Great Western Mainline and provide Slough with a direct rail link to Heathrow. Passengers travelling to the airport from the Midlands, South and South West of England and South Wales would be able to interchange at Reading for a direct rail service to the airport, rather than needing to do so at London Paddington.

Air

Heathrow Airport is situated just outside of Slough and
it is estimated that one in 20 residents of Slough are
employed at the site. It is therefore an important asset
to the local economy in terms of employment, but also
for accessibility and communications

Heathrow is the world’s busiest international airport with more than 87 million passengers per annum. Heathrow comprises five terminals and two runways which face a high level of demand from passengers

The close proximity of Heathrow to Slough makes it an internationally accessible location, especially for businesses who may be located in Slough or those who travel to Slough to do business