Colchester
Colchester lies on the county boundary of Essex and Suffolk commanding a central position on the European trade routes. To the north it links with Ipswich and the A14 direct motorway route through to the Midlands, the M1 and M6. Travelling eastwest the A120 TransEuropean route passes through the town with the M11 and Stansted Airport to the west. Two major ports at Harwich and Felixstowe lie within a 20- minute drive, giving the town a significant commercial advantage.
This growing town has a buoyant local economy with a broad skills base and a quality of life second to none. Colchester has set out to encourage and nurture a broad based economy without an over dependency on a single sector. Unemployment rates are consistently lower than the Essex average whilst the number of registered job vacancies has shown a rising trend. Strong sectors within the local economy include financial services, paper and print publishing, retail, leisure and business services, teleworking and electronics, as well as some strong manufacturing areas.
With an overall population of 156,000 there are 98,000 residents of working age in Colchester with an average unemployment rate of 1.5%. There has been a significant increase in the number of jobs in Colchester since 1993 with predictions of this reaching 90,000 employed and self employed by 2011, the largest forecast increase in Essex.
If you would like further information or assistance please contact:
Jo Portway or Howard Davies
Economic Development Officers
Colchester Borough Council
Tel: + 44 (0) 1206 282460/282245
Email: jo.portway@colchester.gov.uk or howard.davies@colchester.gov.uk
