Profile
Overview
Located in central southern Hampshire, the Borough is a combination of coast, countryside, quiet villages and busy towns. It stretches from Netley on the banks of Southampton Water, the historic river villages of Hamble-le-Rice, Bursledon and Botley, the developing areas of Hedge End, West End and Fair Oak and the green residential belt of Chandler's Ford. The town of Eastleigh with its shopping, leisure and entertainment facilities is the administrative and commercial centre of the Borough. The Borough has seen a rapid and controlled expansion in residential, industrial and commercial development over recent years. Excellent communication links by road (M3 & M27), rail and air (Southampton International Airport located within the Borough) have helped promote the Borough as a location for companies setting up in the region.
Population Profile
Eastleigh has a population of over 117,000. It is projected to see growth of 8.57% (county average 8%) between 2001 and 2026 to 126,000. Quality of life indicators (1=highest, 376=lowest) place Eastleigh at 79, well placed in the top quartile. The age profile is similar to the national average. Through commuting the Borough has a net loss of 3,500 residents a day. 52% of the local workforce live in the Borough as well as work here. The largest net outflow from Eastleigh is to Winchester. The largest net inflow to Eastleigh is from the New Forest. The largest number of people move in and out between Eastleigh and Southampton
Economic Activity and Employers
Eastleigh (along with 5 other Hampshire districts) shows up as being markedly more prosperous than the national average. Employment rates are high at 83% of working age residents in employment. Unemployment is currently below 1.0%, considerably below the national average of 2.2%. There are a total of 53,000 jobs in the Borough. The largest employment sector, by number of employees, is retail, hotels and restaurants. The largest employment sector, by number of businesses, is financial and business services. Employment in the knowledge based sectors is 18.6% a slight increase from 2002 rates of 17%. Approximately 80% of businesses in the Borough are trading profitably. The number of VAT registered businesses in Eastleigh grew between 2002 and 2003 and is currently 3,840. In 2003 460 businesses registered for VAT against 435 that de-registered.
In Eastleigh the size of business and the number of employees they have is similar to the national profile. Companies with 1-10 employees account for 83% of businesses but only 19.8% of employees. Conversely, companies with over 200 employees account for only 0.7% of businesses but 30% of employees. The largest proportion of residents work in managerial and professional occupations. The smallest proportion of residents work in sales.
Employers
Eastleigh is home to the national head offices of B&Q, Draper Tools and Fortis Insurance. We also enjoy a vibrant small business sector comprising nearly 3,000 small companies, some of whom operate from the Council’s network of industrial units and enterprise centres. Hedge End is home to the largest combined Sainsburys/Marks & Spencer’s in Europe.
Tourism
Tourism is annually worth £148m to Eastleigh, providing 6% of tourism business turnover in Hampshire. Some 264,000 staying visitors spend £46m and a further 1.8m day visitors spend an additional £63m. The Hamble River within the borough is renowned internationally as a mecca for yachting and sailing. Eastleigh Borough is also home to Hampshire County Cricket at the ‘Rose Bowl’. This venue will be holding a greater number of international cricket matches in forthcoming years and big name pop concerts.
Access
The towns and cities of Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth are within easy access, as is the New Forest, Isle of Wight and London. With Southampton International Airport within Eastleigh, a wide range of UK and European destinations are also easily reached.
Links:
Eastleigh Borough Council
Eastleigh Economic Profile
PDFs:
Hotel Development Sites: