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Business and Economic Overview for North Herts
If you are interested in a business location offering high quality of life and a superb environment and infrastructure then North Herts could well be the ideal place for your business and your employees. The combination of attractive towns, rural surroundings, skilled and reliable workforce, good quality of life and fine transport links makes North Herts an attractive location for investment and a popular place to live and work.
North Herts is strategically located in the heart of key commercial centres with an excellent transport network linking the area to the rest of the UK, Europe and World economies.
The District sits between Luton and Milton Keynes to the west, Cambridge to the north, Stevenage to the east and London, 30 miles to the south.
The districts towns are all linked by rail to London (30-40 minutes) and the north of England and Scotland.
By road the A1(M) passes through the district and the M1 passes just 6 miles from Hitchin at junction 10, these roads provide easy access to the NW, NE and Scotland as well as linking to the M25 London ring road.
London Luton airport is only 15 minutes from Hitchin whilst London Stanstead and London Heathrow are both within an hour by road.
The population of North Herts is estimated to be 119,100. 72900 are of working age and of this number 61,000 are economically active (source local area LFS, Mar 2002-Feb 2003).
In September 2004 unemployment in the district was measured at 1.4% (source nomis Sept 2004 claimant count rates).
There are a few large employers in the district but the majority of businesses are small and medium enterprises employing fewer than 50 persons. The largest sector is financial and business services which together with government and other services accounts for nearly 50% of the working population. 25% work in hotels, distribution and catering with 14% in manufacturing (source Cambridge econmetrics 2004).
A growing sector for new and expanding business is in the knowledge based economy (medium and hi-tech manufacturing and hi-tech services) reflecting the high standards of education in the district and the influence of local colleges and universities.
A substantial amount of additional information is available on the Hertfordshire County Council website www.hertsdirect.org. This includes info on businesses, start ups, schools and house prices.
House prices - the latest statistics on house prices in various Herts towns (including North Herts)
Places to Stay - Hotels and B&B's throughout North Herts (including North Herts)
Schools - details for all schools in Herts (including North Herts)