Watford’s economy has shifted in line with national trends towards the service industries, with 29% of employee jobs being in the ‘distribution, hotels and catering’ sector which includes retail, and 31% in the banking, finance and insurance sector.
Watford is the largest town in Hertfordshire. The town benefits from excellent transport links, with the London Underground and Overground, West Coast Mainline, M1 and M25 all linking the borough with the rest of Hertfordshire, Greater London and the Midlands, as well as providing easy access to Heathrow, Luton and Stansted airports.
The town is currently home to around 3500 businesses with a good mix of company size and sector, with many international HQs and a higher than average start-up success rate, and a range of businesses in between. There is representation from financial and professional services sectors, pharmaceutical, health sciences, creative media, manufacturing and retail and leisure industries, amongst many others.
Watford has the head offices of a number of national companies such as J D Wetherspoon, Camelot Group, Mothercare, Bathstore, and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). Watford is also the UK base of various multi-nationals including Hilton Worldwide, Total Oil, TK Maxx, Costco, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Vinci and Beko.
