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Why choose Colchester

View of Colchester Castle

Why choose Colchester?

Location

Choose Colchester Distance Map Displays a larger version of this image in a new browser windowThe Borough of Colchester is located in the County of Essex in the East of England, covering an area of approximately 324 square kilometres. The urban centre is Colchester - Britain's oldest recorded town - with surrounding smaller towns and villages, the largest of which are Wivenhoe, Tiptree and West Mersea.

Colchester lies in a key gateway location between the UK and Europe with the Ports of Harwich and Felixstowe to the east and Stansted Airport to the west. The town is connected to a comprehensive network of major roads via the A12 and the A120, which provide routes to London, the M25, Ipswich and Cambridge.

Population

The population of the borough is 181,000 (figures from 2008 - source: Office for National Statistics mid year update); a significant rise over the previous year's total of 175,500 and part of a trend that has seen the borough's population grow by 14% over the last decade.

Over 65% of the population in Colchester are of working age (117,900 people) and of these over 95,000 are economically active, with over 88,500 being in employment. This account's for over 72% of the borough's working age population.

Combined with a rapidly growing population, this healthy indicator of economic activity reflects the borough's role as a major sub-regional centre.

Attracting attention

Colchester offers an eclectic mix of the old and the new - from the Castle to the stadium, the town offers major recreational facilities to residents and visitors alike. As a retail centre, the town stands out in appeal and originality in the region due to the fantastic assortment of shops varying from the large chains to the many independent retailers.

Due to the latest figures (CACI 2008) Colchester is well above its rivals and is one of the top 50 retail centres in Great Britain. It is in fact listed as a major centre with over £550 million pounds expenditure. This is well above other local towns such as Ipswich and Chelmsford.

Building on success

A successful town still needs to be well supported and the Enterprise Team at Colchester Borough Council continually works to improve on this, forging new partnerships with local businesses and local business organisations and strengthening old ones. The team is working to ensure that new developments such as those at North Colchester, the Colchester North Station Regeneration Area and the University of Essex Research Park give the town the supply and type of business accommodation that it needs both now and in the future.

A support network

The Team also works closely with many partner organisations, such as Regional Cities East and the Haven Gateway Partnership and locally with Colchester Business Enterprise Agency, the Chamber of Commerce, Colchester Retail Business Association (CORBA), Destination Colchester and Signpost Colchester, to assist with the formation of new businesses in the borough the supporting and retention of existing ones and to support schemes to enable people to increase their skills to help them get into work.

For further information please contact Enterprise@colchester.gov.uk or click here to visit our other Choose Colchester pages.