In giving each town or city a score out of five, Slough has outscored other front runners such as Manchester, Cambridge and Swindon in scooping the 2017 best place to work prize.
Glassdoor, which has been running this particular survey for two years, brought together the overall score, job openings, median base salary, job satisfaction rating, median home value and “hot jobs” for each leading town or city.
In 2016, Cambridge beat out Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Leeds and Peterborough to finish top of the pile with a city score of 4.1 – lower than the 4.2 achieved by Slough this year.
“With large multinational businesses establishing themselves in Slough, along with high average salaries and close proximity to major transport hubs such as Heathrow Airport, the Berkshire town has now emerged as a prime spot to live and work,” said Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor chief economist.
“Although people in London are generally satisfied, it has proven not only to be an expensive place to live, but also an ultra-competitive city in which to find a job. The UK’s M4 corridor remains Britain’s global tech backbone.
Alongside being made famous as the setting for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s celebrated BBC comedy The Office, Slough is also home to companies such as Oracle, Cisco and Microsoft.
“Towns and cities around this area offer pleasant environments, above average salaries and a lower cost of living, meaning an increased quality of life for employees,” Chamberlain added.
Slough has the highest concentration of global corporate headquarters outside of London, with Blackberry, McAfee, Burger King and LEGO also calling it home. The Slough Trading Estate, the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe, has over 17,000 people working for around 400 businesses.
Best place to work – Top ten
(1) Slough
Glassdoor score (out of 5): 4.2
Job openings: 26,387
Median base salary: £35,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.3
Median home value: £390,654
Hot jobs: mobile developer, sales manager, recruitment consultant
(2) Manchester
Glassdoor score: 4.0
Job openings: 41,555
Median base salary: £23,998
Job satisfaction rating: 3.5
Median home value: £177,263
Hot jobs: data scientist, digital marketing executive, retail store manager
(3) Cambridge
Glassdoor score: 4.0
Job openings: 21,645
Median base salary: £31,225
Job satisfaction rating: 3.5
Median home value: £455,299
Hot jobs: software engineer, graphic designer, registered nurse
(4) Swindon
Glassdoor score: 3.9
Job openings: 15,307
Median base salary: £31,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.4
Median home value: 248,514
Hot jobs: maintenance engineer, account manager, facilities manager
(5) Stoke-on-Trent
Glassdoor score: 3.9
Job openings: 16,381
Median base salary: £21,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.3
Median home value: £143,328
Hot jobs: business development manager, production operator, sales consultant
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(6) Reading
Glassdoor score: 3.8
Job openings: 25,305
Median base salary: £35,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.4
Median home value: £422,120
Hot jobs: social media manager, electrician, sales executive
(7) Leeds
Glassdoor score: 3.8
Job openings: 41,097
Median base salary: £24,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.3
Median home value: £206,143
Hot jobs: project manager, business analyst, building surveyor
(8) Milton Keynes
Glassdoor score: 3.7
Job openings: 16,164
Median base salary: £28,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.5
Median home value: £301,938
Hot jobs: solutions architect, communications manager, HR manager
(9) Bolton
Glassdoor score: 3.7
Job openings: 11,233
Median base salary: £21,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.3
Median home value: £159,690
Hot jobs: net developer, account assistant, IT business analyst
(10) Oxford
Glassdoor score: 3.6
Job openings:18,649
Median base salary: £30,000
Job satisfaction rating: 3.4
Median home value: £489,037
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