location, relocation, expansion, portal

Workforce Summary

Ashford currently has a large pool of highly skilled labour which is expanding as the population is set to grow; this is enhanced by the strong employment pull from neighbouring areas and London due to its excellent transport connections. Lower labour costs than the rest of the southeast and London and the excellent educational facilities that exist within the town and in nearby Canterbury provide employers with a large employment pool.

Nature and structure of the labour force, demographics

• Current population of Ashford is at 114,100 and it is set to grow by approximately 2,000 a year providing an expanding pool of labour to prospective investors.
• Ashford is home to a working population of over 49,000 employees, with up to 783,000 adults of working age within a 40 minute drive of the town centre, and one million within an hour.
• Ashford has a strong employment pull, attracting workers from more than 40 km (25 miles) away through its strategic rail and road links.
• Ashford has a significant representation of 'Wealthy Executives', some 70% more than the national average.
• Managers and Senior officials represent a larger proportion of employment at 18% compared with 16% nationally
• Ashford also has a higher proportion of employment in Skilled Trades Occupations. 

Education and Qualification

• Ashford has excellent and expanding education facilities, currently home to 50 schools and three special schools including Ashford School, the town’s independent day and boarding school.
• It has a higher than national average level of A* to C grade GCSE passes, during 2006 50% of pupils at year 11 gained one or more GCSE’s.
• The Ashford School of Art and Design (ASAD), part of K College, offers higher education courses from GCSE to university-accredited HND and degree level.
• There are five universities within one hour’s drive of Ashford, enrolling around 40,000 students and producing over 11,000 graduates each year.

Students progress to higher education at:

• Canterbury Christ Church University College
• University of Kent in Canterbury
• University of Greenwich
• University College of Creative Arts (sites at Maidstone, Rochester and Canterbury).

Availability

• The introduction of High Speed train services in December 2009 has provided the catalyst for the further expansion of the labour market over the next 20 years.
• With a predicted 28,000 new jobs over the next 25 years and the population set to double, there is growing availability amongst a large pool of skilled labour
• Ashford has a strong employment pull, attracting workers from more than 40 km (25 miles) away; this is more than twice the national average, which indicates the relative ease of accessibility that Ashford can demonstrate.

Number of potential employees within a drive time distance:

• 20 minutes – 69,738
• 40 minutes – 783,000
• 60 minutes – 1,207,335
   

Labour Costs

• Average salaries are 30% less than in London and 15% to 20% lower than the rest of the South East - an attractive cost-saving for growing businesses.