Jobs in Cambridge | Pictures of Cambridge

Without the University, Cambridge would have been little more than a humble market town on the banks of the River Cam. But Cambridge is a university town and its influence is overwhelming both economically and physically with its majestic college buildings littering the skyline.

Not only does it provide work for almost 1 in 10 of the city's workforce, it has also been the catalyst for a high-tech sector that has become one of the leading hubs in Europe .

Then and now
Cambridge has never been a heavy industry city. It started off as a crossing place for the river which leads all the way to Kings Lynn on the Wash , and so Cambridge , surprisingly enough, was a port with good trading links to the Low Countries . There is still a lot of trade with mainland Europe through East Anglia , but this now happens along roads instead.

But central to the Cambridge economy today is the University around which the entire town has evolved. Having produced many Prime Minister's, Archbishops and Nobel Prize winners – more than any other establishment in the world – Cambridge's list of notaries reads like a who's who of high achievers. The theory of gravity and DNA wee both discovered by Cambridge graduates.

It's no surprise that the university ranks in the top three in the world and has a huge influence on the local employment sector, employing over 8,000 members of staff

With such a strong education sector, the wider public sector is the biggest employer in the city. Aside from the university, Cambridge is also the administrative centre for the county and is responsible for over 40% of all employment opportunities in the area, with Cambridgeshire County Council and Addenbrooke's Hospital being two of the largest employers in the city.

The greatest spin-off from the university has been Silicon Fen, a large cluster of high-tech businesses within the fields of software , electronics , and biotechnology . A number of these have direct links with Cambridge University, and the area is home to some of the most notable high-tech organisations, including Marshalls Aerospace, CSR, ARM and Sinclair.

Combined with the smaller, yet still significant, professional and business services, the finance and high-tech sector provides employment for approximately 23% of the workforce in Cambridge .

A sizeable student population, people with above-average disposable incomes and a regular stream of tourists creates a thriving retail sector that is more than willing to share the spoils.

With a plethora of restaurants, bars and hotels in addition to two brand new shopping centres, almost 1 in 4 of all jobs can be found in retail and tourism.

Key business districts
Silicon Fen (sometimes known as the Cambridge Cluster) is the name given to the region around Cambridge which is home to a large cluster of high-tech businesses, especially those related to software, electronics, and biotechnology.

Cambridge Science Park was established by Trinity College in 1970 and is the oldest and most prestigious science park in the country. It hosts organisations from small start-ups and spin-outs to subsidiaries of multinational corporations. Cambridge Business Park is concentrated mainly on IT-related organisations, but also intellectual property firms such as Mewburn Ellis, Venner Shipley and Mathys and Squire.

Barnwell Business Park comprises 20 light industrial units with mezzanine offices. The site is situated on Barnwell Road alongside Barnwell House, approximately two miles east of the city centre.

If you're thinking of moving to the area, take a look at some of the current property available to buy or let in Cambridge.

Take a closer look
A picture is worth a thousand words. You can see some images from in and around Cambridge below.

Looking for local vacancies? See all current jobs in Cambridge or find out more information on the local area.