Facts and Figures

Mid Bedfordshire Profile – January 08

A brief overview

·       Mid Beds is an attractive rural area with the growing, historic market towns of Ampthill, Filtwick, Sandy and Biggleswade and many picturesque villages

·       The area benefits from unique investments and attractions – long established and new  - including Woburn, Millbrook Proving Ground, Shuttleworth and Wrest Park – a New Center parcs is opening there are ambitious proposals for a new freshwater attraction: NIRAH

·       Mid Beds is part of the Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire national growth area and adjacent to major urban settlements: Milton Keynes, Bedford and Luton. It is also at the heart of the Oxford to Cambridge Technology arc.

·       The area has excellent air, road and rail communications:

o      Major road and rail corridors: M1, A1, A5 and A6 - with easy access to M25, M11 and M40

o      Rail: 

§        East - Peterborough to King’s Cross stopping at 3 Mid Beds settlements: Arlesey, Biggleswade and Sandy

§        West Coast line (London Euston to Manchester and Scotland)

§        Midland Mainline from London St Pancras to Derby and Sheffield

§        Thameslink – Brighton, through London to Bedford

o      Air:

§        London Luton Airport is 25 minutes from Shefford in central Mid Beds

§        Cranfield in the West of the District has a fully CAA licenced airport

§        Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick are all within easy reach

Travel Distances*                                 
                               Birmingham, 88 miles - 1 hour 39 minutes
                               Cambridge, 30 miles - 31 minutes
                               Harwich Seaport, 86 miles - 2 hours 05 minutes
                               London, 47 miles - 1 hour 06 minutes
                               London Luton Airport, 16 miles - 24 minutes
                               Milton Keynes, 23 miles - 31 minutes

* All distances measured from Shefford, representing the District’s centre, by car. Distances and times from other settlements or by other means of transport may vary.

·       Mid Beds’ population is about 132,200 (2006 estimates); the area is experiencing high population growth when compared with the County, Regional and National contexts

·       A higher proportion of the area’s total population are of working age than the County or region – and a high proportion of that working age population are economically active

·       The Mid Beds economy has key strengths including: high levels of economic activity, high earnings and low unemployment

·       The area has a skilled workforce, with a high proportion of Managers and Professional skilled workers

·       The area has a higher proportion of employment in manufacturing than the region or country and a lower proportion of Finance and Business Sector jobs

·       The area does have high levels of out commuting; a high proportion of the workforce commute to large urban areas – there is strong potential for new or newly investing companies to attract employees who are currently commuting out of the area.

Some Key statistics

Population

Source: ONS
(Mid Year Estimates 2006)

Working Age population

·       There are 84,400 people of working age in the population, 63.8% of the total population.  This is higher than the County and regional percentage (62.2% and 61.2% respectively)

Population – Change over 1996 – 2006 

           Source: ONS Mid Year Estimates 2006)

·       Mid Beds is experiencing high population growth, compared to the County, Regional and National picture

No of Households

Source:2001 Census

·       2006 saw a large increase in new housing permissions

Labour Supply

·       70,000 people are economically active in Mid Beds – 82% of the working age population.  This is higher than County and Regional percentages (both 80.4%) (Source: ONS annual population survey 06/07)

·       Mid Beds has a slightly higher proportion of Senior Managers and professionals in the workforce (46.6%) than the County and higher than the region (42.8%)

·       Mid Beds has the highest proportion of Administrative and secretarial and skilled trades in the County and Region, but the lowest proportion of Personal services and sales occupations. (Source: ONS annual population survey)

·       In the previous year’s statistics, Mid Beds had a higher proportion of highly skilled workers than the County or Region, but the figures for 2007 show the reverse:  NVQ4 level in Mid Beds, 21.8%, Bedfordshire 24.1% and Eastern Region 25%) (Source: ONS annual population survey)

·       Unemployment

 Source:ONS

Labour demand – 2006(source: ONS, Annual Business Inquiry (ABI))

·       There are 43,600 employee jobs in Mid Bedfordshire

·       There is a higher percentage of manufacturing jobs in Mid Beds compared to the county and Region (12.2%, 11% and 10.9% respectively) – but the number of jobs is declining

·       There is a significantly lower proportion of Service sector jobs in the District compared to the County and Region (78.7%, 82.1% and 82.9% respectively)

·       The District has a lower proportion of employment in Distribution, hotels and restaurants than the County and Region (22.8%, 25%, 23.5%); Tourism related employment is also lower than county and regional levels.

·       Gross weekly earnings are higher in Mid Beds than the County and Region (£476, £450, £458.6)

VAT Registered Companies – 2006

·       There has been a net increase of VAT registered companies since at least 2001, with a net increase of 110 between 2004/05 and 355 between 2005/6.  The proportion of new registrations to total businesses in Mid Beds in 2006 was higher than County and regional averages: 9.3% for Mid-Beds compared to 9.0% for the County and 8.9% for the region. 

·       The proportion of deregistrations was lower in Mid Beds (5.7%) than the County (6.4%) and the Region (7.1%).

 Travel Distances*                                

Birmingham, 88 miles - 1 hour 39 minutes
Cambridge, 30 miles - 31 minutes
Harwich Seaport, 86 miles - 2 hours 05 minutes
London, 47 miles - 1 hour 06 minutes
London Luton Airport, 16 miles - 24 minutes
Milton Keynes, 23 miles - 31 minutes

* All distances measured from Shefford, representing the District’s centre, by car. Distances and times from other settlements or by other means of transport may vary.