Harlow District Council Background Information

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Key Competitive Attractions

Located between the economic powerhouse of London and the knowledge capital Cambridge, Harlow offers an extraordinary opportunity for business development, consolidation or relocation.

For further information on how your business could benefit from locating to Harlow visit our dedicated inward investment website.

Harlow benefits from excellent transport links with superb connectivity to London, Cambridge, regional and global markets.

Harlow has an excellent location in close proximity to the motorway network:

10 minutes to M11
15 minutes to M25
25 minutes to Stansted Airport
35 minutes to the Olympic Park at Stratford
40 minutes to Docklands
45 minutes to Cambridge

Harlow offers a wide range of properties at a competitive price compared with sites in London and Cambridge. There is space for all business requirements from large scale development opportunities to flexible accommodation for satellite offices or startup businesses.

Home to a number of high profile companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, BUPA Home Healthcare, Pearson Education and Raytheon, Harlow is the leading location for dynamic businesses seeking to grow and develop. Being the birthplace of Fibre Optic technology, the town has a strong link to engineering, manufacturing and ICT. More recently there has been a growing prominence of the ‘Health and Allied Industries’ sector in Harlow with key strengths in medical instrument manufacture and drug discovery activities.

Harlow has recently been awarded Enterprise Zone status. Enterprise West Essex @ Harlow has the vision to become a cluster for businesses in medical technologies, advanced manufacturing and other high tech industries.

Assistance and Support For New Business Investors

Harlow Council's Regeneration Team works in partnership with the Invest Essex team of Essex County Council who can provide dedicated support to companies seeking to locate in Harlow and Essex.

The Regeneration Team aims to provide support for existing and prospective businesses by:

Helping to ensure that local businesses can access appropriate business support
Aiding entrepreneurs
Providing economic, social and demographic research intelligence
Providing support and information to attract potential business and investors seeking to locate to Harlow
Helping provide support and information to businesses and individuals on how to cope with the economic effects of the recession
Encouraging and promoting skills development for both employers and employees

Tel: +44 (0)1279 446450

email: regen.enquiries@harlow.gov.uk

or visit our website

Existing Business Base

The Gross Value Added per capita in Harlow is in the top 20% of districts nationally.

Harlow has a strong manufacturing base and this is seen with 5,000 people employed in the sector. The Health and Allied Industries sector has seen a growing prominence in Harlow in recent years accounting for 16% of total employment and Harlow is currently home to a large variety of high-profile businesses in this sector including Teva, Argenta Discovery, GSK, Clement Clark and Haag-Streit.

The engineering and ICT sectors have continued to evolve and innovate underpinning Harlow's economic success. The availability of technically able employees as well as the accessible location are key reasons for locating to Harlow for technically advanced firms. Employment in retail is significant and is expected to increase in line with Harlow's development as a sub-regional shopping centre.