Slough named best place to live and work – and you could get a £3,500 a year pay rise too
The industrial town was crowned the winner in a survey which looked at job prospects, salary and property prices
THE unlikely Berkshire town of Slough has been crowned the best place in the UK to work and live for the second year in a row.
The area was famously called a "mess" by poet John Betjeman and is known as the setting for BBC sitcom The Office.
But the industrial town located west of London once again came top in the yearly study by job site Glassdoor, which looked at job prospects, salary, job satisfaction and property prices.
It topped the list thanks to its high number of jobs compared to the local population and relatively high salaries when compared to living costs in the area.
In fact, a worker in the middle of Slough's salary bracket currently earns £29,500 per year, which is £3,500 higher than the average UK salary.
As of the end of August, the city had 22,131 active job listings on Glassdoor - the highest number of the top five cities to work and live in - and an average home value of £391,218.
Newcomer Gloucester was the runner-up on the list offering average salaries of £24,000 and average home values of £239,054.
Tech hub Cambridge came third, followed by Reading and Guildford in fourth and fifth places.
Of the top five, Cambridge offers the highest average salaries at £30,464, but it also has the highest average property prices at £464,852.
Some of the UK's biggest cities including Edinburgh, Sheffield, Glasgow, Cardiff and London didn't even make the top 25 this year.
Glassdoor's economic research analyst Amanda Stansell said: “Slough is now firmly established as one of the best areas in the UK to work, because of its consistently high employee satisfaction and job opportunities relative to its population.
"It is also home to a huge range of employers. With plans now agreed for Heathrow’s third runway and the new Crossrail in 2019, its growth potential is very positive."
She added: “While several of the towns and cities highlighted in this report may be surprising, many are experiencing growing local economies, complete with a healthy dose of new job prospects and strong home affordability.
"Plus, employees working in these areas often find themselves quite satisfied in their jobs. In turn, this can benefit local employers as UK studies show a correlation between high employee satisfaction and better business performance.”
What is Slough famous for?
THE city doesn't have a great reputation, but it is known for the following:
- In 1937, an infamous poem by John Betjeman urged 'Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough, It isn’t fit for humans now'
- The Mars bar was first manufacted in Slough in 1932 and the headquarters are still based here today
- The Beatles began its first British tour in the city in 1963
- It has the highest concentration of company headquarters outside of London
- The city was the setting for the BBC's The Office mockumentary about life in a fictional paper company on a drab industrial estate
Aldershot in Hampshire has been revealed as the happiest place to live in Britain, while the Fenlands in Cambridgeshire scored low.
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