Environment

Situated 30 miles south of London, Guildford is an exceptionally beautiful Borough, containing rolling chalk downs, ancient woodland and a patchwork of fields and hedgerows. Approximately 70% of the Borough lies within the green belt and much of southern most rural parts are within the area known as the “Surrey Hills”, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.   The town centre itself is only a fifteen minute walk from the north downs.  Guildford also boasts a large variety of restaurants, bars and cafes, several theatres, a gallery, a museum and a world class leisure complex.  This combination makes the borough a vibrant place to live, work or visit.

Transport

Guildford is located at the centre of a comprehensive communication network, which is highly accessible to UK, European and world markets.  Central London is only 30 miles away and is connected to Guildford by excellent road and rail links.  Guildford is also only 40 minutes away from Heathrow and Gatwick, Britain’s largest international airports.

Conference facilities

Guildford ease of accessibility by road and rail makes it an ideal location for meetings and conferences.  Combine this with a varied selection of excellent venues for meetings, corporate hospitality and conferences and Guildford’s meetings facilities are hard to beat.  For a description of the conference facilities available click here.

Education

Guildford has a highly skilled workforce which outperforms other parts of the UK in terms of achievement against the National Targets for Education and Training.  The published ‘Schools Performance Tables’  supports this with 51% of pupils gaining 5 GCSE grades A-C comparing favourably with the national average of 45%.     University of Surrey   The University of Surrey and Research Park are key economic players and collectively bring about £450 million to the local economy each year.  Its research and expertise in satellite engineering and digital communications are critical to the national economy.  The University also brings an international outlook to the town with 13.5% of its undergraduates coming from the rest of the EU and 17% from the ‘greater world’.  The university has three faculties, Science, Engineering and Human Studies and close links are maintained with the businesses community   www.surrey.ac.uk   Guildford College Guildford College offers full and part-time courses across a broad range of subjects, many specific to business.  Guildford Corporate Services is the business-to-business arm of Guildford College.  It offers integrated training solutions for businesses, covering everything from half day training solutions to tailor-made company training plans.  www.guildford.ac.uk Academy of Contemporary Music   The Academy of Contemporary music has some of the finest music education facilities available anywhere in the world.  They run courses from entry level right through to BA Honours Degrees.    www.acm.ac.uk   Guildford College of Law   The College of Law is the largest provider of vocational legal education and training in Europe, training students to become solicitors and barristers in England and Wales and providing training after qualification. Incorporated in 1962, it is an educational charity controlled by a Board of Governors and was granted a Royal Charter in 1975.   www.college-of-law.co.uk   Guildford School of Acting   Guildford School of Acting has built an international reputation for excellence in training for actors and technicians in all areas of theatre and the recorded media.  It provides vocational training with nationally recognized qualifications and all two and three year courses are validated by the University of Surrey. www.conservatoire.org

Commercial Excellence

Retail   The town is a thriving shopping centre with a wide range of multiple and independent retailers.  In early 1997 Guildford won the 'British Council of Shopping Centre Environment Award'.  More recently a comparison of 1,100  retail facilities made by Experian placed Guildford in the top 20 of the nationwide Retail Centre Ranking.  This means Guildford is the premier retail centre in Surrey and is number three in the South East with only Southampton and Blue Water scoring higher.   Services   More than 75% of Guildford employees are based in the service sector.  The majority of these are small and medium sized companies employing fewer than 20 employees.  The services range from those provided by the major clearing banks and a wide variety of accountancy, legal and insurance practices through to specialised marketing, public relations, training and management consultants.  Several major international accountants and solicitors have branches in Guildford, which attract business from outside the area as well as serving the needs of the local community.   Despite the high proportion of small businesses in this sector Guildford has become a sought after location for the administrative head-quarters of a number of world-class companies including Colgate-Palmolive, Standard Life Healthcare, Legal & General  and Cornhill Insurance.   Farming and Horticulture   Farming in Guildford Borough is an essential part of the local economy.  It has created and maintains the beautiful rural landscape that has become so characteristic of this area and which makes it such an attractive place to live and work in.  Farmers’ Markets take place on Guildford High Street on the first Tuesday of the month to support local farmers and other producers.  The markets are very successful for the traders and have provided consumers with the opportunity to buy high quality, local food in an attractive market atmosphere.

Technological

New Technology   Guildford Borough has a highly successful and growing cluster of new technology businesses in the IT, bioscience, material science, satellite communications, engineering and other research fields. These range in size from small one-man technical organisations to large companies including:  The Surrey Research Park is a focal point for new technology in Guildford.    The Surrey Research Park   Bridging the academic and the entrepreneurial worlds, the Surrey Research Park plays a critical role in Guildford’s knowledge-based economy.   The Park accommodates every size of business, from a single entrepreneurial scientist to a 30,000 sq. ft. research facility or headquarters. This means they can grow quickly without relocating. Its presence encourages the commercialisation of ideas from within the University of Surrey and attracts world-leading businesses to share in the university’s research expertise.   Park companies together employ around 2,750 people and make a huge contribution to the local economy. Their annual turnover per employee of around £100,000 is substantially greater than the regional average and equates to a total of some £220 million after tax. Studies show 60 per cent of this is re-spent within 40 miles of Guildford. Together with the economic activity of the University and its students, it represents a massive cash injection into the local economy of between £550 million and £620 million every year.   UniS and the Park also transfer skills into the commercial environment and provide employment for talented young entrepreneurial and technical staff who might otherwise go elsewhere.  This dissemination and retention of cutting edge skills helps keep Guildford’s economy prosperous and competitive.

Administrative Centre

Guildford is the centre for regional government in the Southeast and over the past few years influential governmental bodies have chosen to base their headquarters in Guildford.  These include the Government Office for the South East (GOSE), the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the University for Industry and English Heritage.   Guildford has Magistrates and County Court like most large towns but there is also the Crown Court and a District Registry of the Royal Courts of Justice.    These courts handle a substantial volume and variety of cases on a daily basis.