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Escape to the country

ended 24. January 2023

This morning, official data was published by the ONS about employment trends outside cities and towns. Key points below, but it seems more people are taking jobs out of towns and cities, likely due to the pandemic and remote working. Any thoughts, send them across ASAP as this story is BREAKING.

  • Between 2009 and 2021, employment in England and Wales grew by 20% in out-of-town locations compared with 7% within towns and 14% within large cities (excluding London).
  • Employment growth rates were higher in out-of-town locations than in towns and cities in 81% of travel-to-work areas in England and Wales.
  • Of the employment growth in out-of-town locations, 87% occurred within 2 kilometres of town or city boundaries.
  • The contributions to overall employment growth across England and Wales between 2009 and 2021 were 35% for London, 16% for large cities, 30% for towns and 19% for out-of-town locations.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Samuel Mather-Holgate
Independent Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial
It’s no surprise that the trend of out-of-towning has continued since Covid. More employers and offering remote or hybrid working and more employees are looking for this option. Working and living in a city involves congestion and higher cost of living, totally the opposite of the desires of a mainly millennial work force. This is a step change, here for good, and it brings a massive environmental benefit too.
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Editor
Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
Rather than remote working, these stats show the continued trend for out-of-town shopping and business parks.

That 87% of the employment growth occurred within 2 kilometres of town or city boundaries supports this.

My firm was effectively forced out of the city centre many years ago due to the rising parking costs and rush hour congestion.

We're now in a purpose-built business park with easy access to the motorways. It's much more convenient for ourselves and our clients.