focus on wokingham
Wokingham’s regeneration is designed to retain a market town feel typified by smaller businesses and independent retailers. The town is determined to retain this distinctly different identity to set it apart from close neighbours Reading and Bracknell
Wokingham: a great place to work
Wokingham’s regeneration is designed to retain a market town feel typified by smaller businesses and independent retailers. The town is determined to retain this distinctly different identity to set it apart from close neighbours Reading and Bracknell
It’s a work in progress at the moment, but Wokingham’s transformation is slowly taking shape. Making the town somewhere people want to both live and work will help the borough maintain its annual 3% growth rate.
That economic growth relies to a large extent on a range of businesses, predominantly in the energy and environment, life sciences and healthcare, and digital technology sectors.
Fit for business
Wokingham Borough Council is upbeat about its plans for the town. Its Invest in Wokingham Borough brochure, due for release as The Business Magazine went to press, promotes the town as ‘a great place to work’. The initiative is part of the Council’s Fit for Business programme that supports local companies.
“We’re packaging Wokingham for potential overseas investors and encouraging businesses already here to stay,” said Gary Cranford, economic development officer at Wokingham Borough Council.
Regeneration game
Wokingham’s regeneration is focused on creating a more pedestrian friendly town centre, along with residential developments and infrastructure improvements.
“You have to consider the town’s regeneration as part of a wider, overall programme across the borough. We have a number of plans around pinch points with seven new roads either delivered, in construction or in planning,” said Cranford.
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businessmag.co.uk Peach of a Place
The new town square at Peach Place is due to open soon and will provide a pedestrian quarter in the heart of the town. Residential development in the centre is also important.
“We want to encourage more flats, especially by using empty commercial space, so more people can live in the centre, which will also boost the night-time economy,” said Cranford.
Work/life balance
Work is underway on the Elms Field redevelopment with a large public open space on one side of Elms Road nearing completion.
Alongside residential development, on the other side of Elms Road an Aldi store is due to open in June and a Premier Inn hotel is in place. The town will also be welcoming the return of a cinema. The Council expects redevelopment of the Carnival Pool site to start in 2020, where plans include a new sports hall.
Facts and stats: employment
• In September 2018, Wokingham had a low unemployment rate (2.4%) compared with the rest of the South East (3.4%) and the rest of the UK (4.2%).
• Some 60.5% of the borough’s population is employed in managerial, senior official, professional, associate professional and technical roles – 14.4% higher than the average for Great Britain.
Facts and stats: business
• Wokingham has 8,500 registered businesses.
• Over 170 of the town’s businesses are technology firms.
Business viewpoints
Two local technology businesses offer their views on Wokingham:
Specialist IT managed services company Nouveau Solutions moved to Fishponds Road, near Molly Millars Lane, about two- and-a-half years ago from nearby Woodley.
“We looked at a wide range of issues in considering the best location for us. One of the key things was the convenience of the location for our employees and Wokingham was a good fit,” said managing director Andy Stevens.
“We knew the regeneration was going on and thought this would give a great opportunity for staff to get into the town centre more easily. The centre is going to be great when it is finished,” he said.
AI agency Volume began life in a small office in Broad Street in the heart of the town. Chris Sykes, CEO at Volume, said: “Volume has been built from the technology ecosystem in the Thames Valley over the past eight years. Wokingham has always been home to us. It’s a place people want to live rather than just visit.”
He added: “Strategically, Wokingham is a good location for us. Dell and HP are nearby and we’ve got Microsoft and Oracle at the end of the A329M.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – MAY/JUNE 2019
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