Jobs in Reading | Pictures of Reading

Located midway between Swindon and London is one of the most prosperous town’s in the UK, Reading. Often referred to as the commercial capital of the Thames Valley, Reading is a leading commercial centre with an enviable reputation for its high-tech, IT, financial and insurance services sector that is attracting a number of leading organisations to the area - not least because of its close proximity to London.

Then and now
Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Reading grew as a major centre for the iron and manufacturing industries whilst enhancing its reputation in the brewery sector. And by the twentieth century, Reading had become famous for the ‘Three Bs’ – beer, bulbs and biscuits.
Today, Reading is a thriving town with a sizeable population to match. And since the 1980s, it has consistently outperformed many other towns in UK and boasts the second highest employment rate in the country.

Indeed, it is often referred to as part of the new wave of ‘mini-cities’ which are proving more attractive than the sprawling urban giants of London, Manchester and Birmingham with economic analyst Experian determining that Reading’s economy will expand by around 3.4 per cent year on year until 2020, making it officially Britain’s fastest growing place.

And much of the reason for this is the town’s IT sector – arguably the jewel in Reading’s economic crown. Reading’s early transition from a traditional manufacturing base to a major centre for service and high technology industries has placed it at the forefront of the high technology revolution. As a result, the town has become the headquarters of major British companies and the UK offices of major foreign multinationals, including Microsoft, Oracle, Sage, Hewlett-Packard, Computacenter and Cisco Systems.

However, as significant as the IT sector is, it is eclipsed by the public sector in terms of employment opportunities in Reading. As the administrative centre for Berkshire and leading contender for Britain’s biggest town (yet to be honoured as a city), the fields of education, health and local government inevitably make up the biggest employers on the area. Reading’s Borough Council is the largest single employer in the area, with a workforce of 5-6,000 people, followed close behind by the University of Reading with 4000 employees and Royal Berkshire & Battle Hospital NHS Trust with 3,500 employees.

And given its close proximity to London, Reading is fast-becoming an alternative centre for the media and financial sectors. For instance, ING Direct, the Dutch-owned online banking giant, bases its UK operations in Reading. Whilst Yell Plc, publishers of the Yellow Pages directories and Yell.com is headquarted in the Queen’s Walk area of the city centre.

Key business districts
Thames Valley Business Park is a high-tech business park adjacent to the River Thames on the eastern outskirts of Reading, and is home to the likes of Xansa, Computacenter, Microsoft, BG Group, Oracle and SGI.

And close to Junction 11 is Green Park, with its clear IT bias and a number of leading organisations such as Cisco Systems, Symantec Software and Logica. Whereas Arlington Business Park is one of the largest office districts conveniently located adjacent to junction 12 of the M4 motorway and is only 5 miles from Reading town centre. Theale railway station is nearby with direct routes to the town 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 Reading.

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

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