Gloucester and Cheltenham have been named in a new ranking of the UK's best locations for work opportunities and jobs.
CoworkingCafe — a listing service for flexible co-working spaces in the UK — analysed the country's largest cities and towns, looking at data in three main categories — employment, business growth and housing affordability.
It noticed mid-sized regional hubs have emerged as the top destinations for work, outperforming major urban centres such as London.
Gloucester scored an impressive number eight in the top 20 list, praised for high employment rate and strong job growth, with lots of job availability, a 'moderate business environment' with rising salaries and a more balanced range of housing options in comparison to average salaries.
While Cheltenham came in at a respectable number 17 overall, scored for its strong job availability, 'moderate employment rate', competitive salaries and range of housing options.
Diving deeper, the survey also found that Gloucester boasts the second highest employment rate in the country, above 88.2 per cent, and the seventh highest employment rate growth, at 9.2 per cent year on year, making Gloucester one of the most 'employment secure' cities in the UK.
Median annual earnings for Gloucester are £34,375, with rental prices taking 32.7 per cent of income and house prices averaging 7.7 times the median annual salary.
While Cheltenham was ranked number four nationwide for business growth with 5.3 high-growth enterprises (businesses that recorded at least a 20 per cent employment growth over three years); and 81 active businesses (firms with 10 or more employees) for every 10,000 working age residents.
The town also came in at number seven in the country for the number of job openings available — 134 per 10,000 working-age residents. Median annual salaries were calculated at £40,025 with rents taking up 34.3 per cent of those incomes, and average house prices coming in at 9.4 years' worth of salaries.
Topping these Gloucestershire locations were Winchester, Warwick and Stafford taking the top three spots, with London ranking lower than Gloucester at number 11 overall.
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