Slough a ‘dominant’ powerhouse in Berkshire as top businesses make £4.7bn

Top companies making £4.7billion in Slough have seen the town named one of Berkshire’s two ‘dominant’ economic powerhouse communities, according to business analysts.

Twenty-two of the county’s ‘top 100’ biggest privately owned companies are based in Slough, according to accountants Grant Thornton’s Berkshire Limited report.

Business and political leaders in the town said Slough was ‘one of the most attractive’ places for business in the UK, with tech and data firms now ‘driving forward’ the town’s economy.

Historic chocolatier Mars, one of the report’s ‘top 10’ biggest Berkshire businesses, joined several based in Slough Trading Estate – the largest of its kind in Europe.

An archive image of Slough Trading Estate

Anna Bond, head of western corridor for the estate’s owners SEGRO, said Slough was among the UK’s ‘most attractive and competitive places for business’.

Ms Bond said: “Its success is built on Slough’s excellent location and connectivity being close to London, Heathrow airport and the wider motorway network, the ability for companies to scale and the strong partnership we have with the local council.

“Together these factors make Slough one of the UK’s most attractive and competitive places for business, helping to drive economic growth for the county and beyond.”

Collectively, the top 100 businesses in the Berkshire Limited Report made £46.4billion in turnover. Slough’s £4.7billion figure was the second largest in the county.

Turnover is the money a company makes before its costs are deducted.

Other Slough-based companies in the report included retailer Furniture Village Holdings Limited and supply chain management company Kite Topco Ltd.

Several Heathrow-linked transport and logistics companies also made the top 100.

Corporate Finance Director at Grant Thornton Will Rose said in the report that ‘geographically, Reading and Slough remain dominant within the top 100’.

Leader of Slough Borough Council Dexter Smith told the Express that Slough benefited from ‘the classic location, location, location’ - with good transport links to London and beyond.

Slough's 'biggest asset' is its young population, according to Cllr Smith (image: Pixabay)

This was in addition to an ‘entrepreneurial population’ and a simplified planning zone [SPZ] policy aimed at fast-tracking development.

SPZ means building plans can be approved without needing multiple individual applications, provided certain conditions are met.

“We've always been on the edge of new technology as well - the last round of that was in terms of mobile telecommunications,” he added. “We had a lot of big firms that were into that.

“And now, of course, it's the digital age and our big centres are going to be driving that forward.”

But while there is money being made in Slough, the town has long struggled with negative headlines. It was ranked the unhappiest place in the UK in a 2024 survey by website Rightmove.

Asked whether he thought Slough residents were seeing enough of the benefits of business in the town, Cllr Simth said: “No, I think that's to a degree a self-inflicted wound.

“We've allowed this skills gap to open up in Slough, which means that Slough people don't necessarily get all the good jobs in Slough.”

He said: “I think the evidence of that is what we see is something like a 20 per cent gap between what Slough firms on average pay and what Slough citizens - residents earn on average.”

Cllr Smith said Slough’s ‘biggest asset’ was its young population.

The town has one of the youngest demographics in England, with 28 per cent of its 158,495 residents under 18 years old, according to Slough Borough Council figures.

Cllr Smith added: “Those people are the workers of tomorrow, and we just need to make sure that they've got the right skills and experience to play a really productive role in the future.”