<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> The Local Economy

BUSINESS IN RUNNYMEDE

The Local Economy

 

Runnymede's economy is characterised by:-

  • Low unemployment - consistently below 1%
  • High earnings - average weekly earnings in 2001 of £594 compared to a national average of £347 (and higher than all our neighbouring districts)
  • High housing costs - 13th highest average house price out of 376 local authority areas in the country (including London Boroughs) according to the Land Registry record of actual sales
  • High proportion of 'knowledge' sector workers - the third highest local authority area in the country for its percentage of 'knowledge' sector employees.
  • High proportion of small companies - over 70% of local employers have 10 or fewer employees
  • High level of business start-ups - over 50 VAT registrations per 10,000 adult residents in 1999
  • A dominant service sector - employing some 62% of the workforce
  • Small retail centres - Runnymede has three small town centres with limited representation of national chains and a number of smaller village centres
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  • High levels of road use - the Borough includes the country's busiest motorway and its other roads are used at a level well above the national average

    The healthy local economy can be attributed to a range of factors:
  • A highly skilled workforce
  • High levels of disposable income
  • Excellent communications, being situated to the west of London, close to Heathrow, and with direct access to the M3 and M25 motorways.

It is hoped that there will be a high quality rail service (known as 'Airtrack') through Runnymede linking Heathrow with Woking, Guildford and Reading. The Business Partnership and the Borough Council are working to ensure that this will provide a service from a station in Runnymede.