Jobs in Southend | Pictures of Southend

With a population of almost 160,000 people, Southend-on-Sea is the second most densely populated urban area in the East of England and the economic, retail and leisure hub for a region of around 325,000.

Strategically located in the Thames Gateway South Essex regeneration area and just 40 miles from London, Southend has seen significant levels of public and private investment in a series of regeneration schemes that have transformed the city centre and improved transportation links to the seafront, thereby contributing to a local economy worth in excess of £2.2bn per year.

Then and now
Southend’s history is a relatively recent one. As little more than the ‘south’ ‘end’ of a small village called Prittlewell, Southend grew as a consequence of the fashionable Georgian penchant for all-things spa- and seaside- related. Much like its south-coast protégé Brighton, Southend’s close proximity to London saw it emerge as trendy seaside resort popular with day-trippers from the capital. But the demise of the great British holiday in the 1960s forced Southend to reinvent itself as something other than a ‘bucket-and-spade’ economy.

Indeed, Southend’s location is what put the town on the map and its location is what is principally driving its economy today. With fast road and rail links with London and the motorway network, together with corporate and charter flight access to Europe from London Southend Airport, the town is successfully attracting investment to its industrial, commercial, leisure and tourism sectors. In fact, a large number of Southend’s 6,000 businesses are start-ups.

Staying true to its heritage, one of the biggest employment sectors in Southend remains the wider tourism sector, which incorporates the areas of retail and leisure.

The recent £25 million redevelopment of The Victoria Shopping Centre in addition to the improved link between Southend Victoria railway station and the Town Centre, has increased Southend’s attraction as a key shopping and visitor destination once more to the extent that the industry supports more than 4,000 jobs in the area, with the likes of Debenhams and Marks & Spencer being some of the biggest employers.

And central to this is one of the major drivers for the local economy: the expansion of London Southend Airport. Plans are in place to substantially increase annual passenger numbers at the airport to one million by 2015, thereby fuelling the local tourist trade and providing a much-needed boost to the aviation-related industries that this will support.

But investment is not solely limited to the commercial sector, the further and higher education sector has been a major beneficiary in recent years, with the financing of the University of Essex’s state-of-the art £53m Southend campus close to the brand new South East Essex College in the heart of the Town Centre. Indeed, the University is also planning to build a Medical School. And together with the number of schools in the area, the education sector is responsible for around 6,100 jobs.

Elsewhere, the call centre sector is a large employer with HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Converso and Thus (formerly Demon Internet) being the biggest employers in a sector that employs over 11,000 people in the Southend area.

Manufacturing, too, is another major source of jobs in the city with the likes of Linpac Automotive, Ipeco, and Keymed (leading manufacturers of high-tech medical equipment, a subsidiary of Olympus) amongst the larger employers.

However, the public sector continues to be Southend’s single biggest employer, particularly within the areas of public administration and health. Along with Southend Borough Council and Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, this sector provides employment opportunities for around 1 in 4 people in the region.

Key business districts
Office accommodation is concentrated in the Town Centre along Victoria Avenue and the High Street with smaller units in district centres along the London Road and Southchurch Road.

The brand new University of Essex Southend Campus is home to the Business Hub, which incorporates the BIC (Business Incubation Centre) and is home to the fast growing number of fledgling companies in Southend.

Manufacturing is largely concentrated in six main industrial sites and smaller estates totalling 88ha - Stock Road Industrial Park, Laurence Industrial Estate, Greyhound Retail Park, Rosshill Industrial Park and Airbourne Industrial Estate.

And the town centre and the seafront have the highest concentration of business within the retail sector.

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

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

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