to invest in a place with no boundaries

10 reasons

leicestershire a place with big ideas. a place where businesses thrive. where communities come together. a place where people want to live. a place full of creativity. where things happen. a confident place. a place where it’s easy to get around. a place that’s vivid and bustling. that’s serene and relaxing. a place that’s very well connected. that attracts investment. a place that’s growing. that’s worldly-wise. a place for families. a place to meet new friends. a place without restrictions. a place that encourages development. that doesn’t say can’t. or won’t. a place of diversity. of beauty. a place full of opportunity. a place of unlimited choice. a place of infinite variety. a place with no boundaries...

#1leicestershire has the largest economy in the east midlands.

• Leicestershire’s economy is estimated to be worth £17.6 billion.

• Diverse economic structure not dependent on any one sector.

• 22 million consumers within a three-hour drive of Leicestershire.

• Around 40,000 VAT and PAYE registered businesses.

• Home to one of the most successful retail parks in Europe.

• More than £3 billion worth of investment and award-winning regeneration being delivered.

#2leicestershire has been voted one of the best uk cities in which to do business.

• Key business sectors include food and drink, advanced engineering, financial and business services, creative industries, logistics, healthcare technologies, plus hotel and leisure.

• Leicestershire is home to major brands including:

3M Health Care Ltd

Alstom

AstraZeneca

Boden

Bonhoeffer Auto Frabrieren

Bostik

Caterpillar

DHL

Fisher Scientific

HSBC

LufthansaNext plcPepsico UKPick EverardSantanderTNTToyota tsusho UK LtdTriumphWalker Snack FoodsWalmartUPS

#3 moving to leicestershire saves, on average, £12,000 per employee, per year.

• Compared with London, and many other UK cities, Leicestershire has a remarkably low operating cost-per-head.

• Office space is cheaper by £36 per square metre.

• Average wage rates are £9,000 lower than comparable staff in London.

• Average price of industrial land in Leicestershire lower than any other region, except the North East.

Savings per employee per year, achieved by moving to Leicester from other UK cities.

£12,000

£9,000

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#4in a prestigious independent poll, leicestershire ranked top amongst britain’s best areas for bringing up a family.

• Average commute time is below the national average at just 23 minutes.

• Cost of living is low with affordable housing and one of the lowest house price to income ratios in the UK.

• Top ten UK shopping destination.

• Innovation in green technologies: Leicester was the UK’s first environment city in 1990, and is Britain’s fourth greenest city.

• Great festivals and events from the largest Caribbean Carnival outside of London, the largest Diwali celebrations outside India, to the longest-running comedy festival in the UK.

• World famous sporting teams and facilities.Original photographer Peter Packer / Leicestershire Imagebank.

#5for international trade, nowhere is better linked to china and india than leicestershire.

• Celebrated cosmopolitan population.

• More than 30% of Leicester residents are of South Asian heritage and more than half of all regional trade with India is conducted in Leicestershire.

• Home to more than 350 foreign-owned businesses, with a dedicated Indian trade desk to promote regional prosperity.

• Leicester is twinned with Strasbourg (France), Krefeld and Saarland (Germany), Haskovo (Bulgaria), Masaya (Nicaragua), Rajkot (India) and Chongqing and Sichuan (China).

• The East Midlands China Business Bureau – founded in Leicestershire – promotes economic links between the East Midlands and China.

#6 centrally located withunrivalled transportlinks, leicester is oneof the best-connectedcities in the country.

• Four national motorways – M1, M6, M69 and M42.

• Fast non-stop rail services to London – 1hr 10min.

• Eurostar now runs services from its new London station, St Pancras International, which means Leicestershire now links with Europe – Leicester to Paris 4hr 20min.

• Three International airports within 40 minutes drive, with flights direct to over 90 worldwide destinations.

• The UK’s largest pure cargo and mail airport.

• London Crossrail will connect Leicester’s London terminus with London Heathrow airport.

• 115 local bus services, 80 minibus services, social car schemes and 23 Demand Responsive Transport Services; altogether carrying just under three million passengers a year.

#7an inspiring place to live and work, leicestershire has a long-standing reputation for innovation.

• From Robert Bakewell’s development of modern farming methods in the 18th century, through to early production of the jet engine and then the discovery of genetic fingerprinting, Leicestershire constantly proves itself to be at the forefront of innovation.

• Space capital of the UK – with the largest Space Science research centre in Europe and home to the National Space Centre.

• Loughborough University is home to the world’s first purpose-built hydrogen fuel cell motorbike. The company is now working with Boeing on a fuel cell for manned light aircraft.

• Three leading universities feed local businesses with some of the UK’s brightest talent. With the University of Leicester leading other UK universities in its world class research capabilities.

• Scientists at Leicester University are developing an instrument to study the surface of the planet Mercury.

#8a workforce of over one million within a 45 minute radius and 50,000 university students at leicestershire’s three leading universities.

Image from Leicestershire Imagebank. Photography by John Higginson.

• Leicestershire boasts a workforce with a great reputation for being highly-skilled and diverse – speaking more than 35 languages.

• Home to an abundance of knowledge and expertise in science, technology, the creative industries and business.

• Leicestershire has the largest number of further education institutions in the East Midlands. And is home to three top performing universities – unique for a non-metropolitan area – delivering 15,000 graduates every year.

• There are plans to qualify the highest number of people in the region at Level 2 (equivalent to five GCSE’s at A* to C) and Level 3 (equivalent to two A-Levels).

• Leicester is the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year for 2008-9.

#9leicester ranks alongside london among the most creative cities in the uk.

• As a city that was home to some of the driving forces of the Arts and Crafts movement, including designer Ernest Gimson, Leicester has been at the forefront of creativity for years.

• Brand new Cultural Quarter, dedicated to the arts, culture and creativity.

• One of the largest clusters of design industry practitioners in the UK.

• The new Curve theatre is host to a programme of stunning performances.

• The city’s new Phoenix Square digital media centre offers state of the art cinema experiences.

• The creator of the world-famous Wallace and Gromit animation films is from Leicestershire.

• Local marketing companies are the brains behind some of the UK’s most famous brands (including Domino’s Pizza, Lil-lets, Lucozade, Samsung, Typhoo and Unilever).

• Local design companies are breaking new ground across the world including: designing retail outlets for Sony Ericsson; a new UK headquarters for Peugeot Citroen; museums for Canada, Jordan, the United States and United Arab Emirates; in-store displays for world perfume brand Givenchy; masterplanning for a new coastal city in China; and a beach club in Dubai; redesigning docklands in London and Liverpool; creating a unique prospectus for Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design.

#10relocating to leicestershire is easy – find out more today.

• Prospect Leicestershire offers a free, confidential and impartial service to help your company relocate.

• Joined-up enquiry handling and support cuts through red tape to give the green light to progress – a complete turnkey solution.

• We can help with identifying potential sources of funding, finding suitable premises, planning issues, property expansion and making the business case for expansion.

Prospect Leicestershire Ltd, Two Colton Square, Leicester LE1 1QH

Tel +44 (0)116 225 4071 Fax +44 (0)116 248 8129

invest@prospectleicestershire.co.uk www.prospectleicestershire.co.uk