Why Royal Tunbridge Wells is rightfully campaigning to be recognised more widely as a top business destination

by Alex Green , CEO of Royal Tunbridge Wells Together, the town's Business Improvement District (BID)

As CEO of the Tunbridge Wells BID, we decided to launch a campaign to promote the town as a business destination in support of the hundreds of professional businesses located in and around our town centre.

With over 650 businesses forming part of the BID and 6,250 VAT registered businesses in and around the town, not including the rising numbers of hugely talented flexible workers that now commute to London just a few days a week, Tunbridge Wells has a huge opportunity to take advantage of its location connectivity, talent and business community to attract further investment, development, business tenants and people.

We have fantastic support from some of the big corporates that are based in the town such as legal firms Cripps and Thomson Snell & Passmore , developer Dandara , global retailer Childrensalon , insurance & leisure giant Markerstudy Group , creative businesses GingerMay and a collective of workspace providers who have grown in the town such as OfficeTribe OtherSpace and 雷格斯 amongst many others.

Our campaign aims both to promote the great businesses and office spaces already within Tunbridge Wells while presenting the town as the place to be for all business stakeholders.

Greg Clark, MP for Tunbridge Wells has lent his support saying: “When thinking about what makes Tunbridge Wells the best place to live and work it is difficult to pick just one reason: whether it be the excellent rail and transport links, the fact that Central London is only 45 minutes away; the significant number of fantastic schools; the range of independent and local businesses or having the countryside right on your doorstep, there is genuinely something for everyone in Tunbridge Wells. We should not be shy in talking about these things and I support any campaign which unashamedly presents Tunbridge Wells as the place to work, invest and do business.”

From mine and those involved in the campaign's perspective, Royal Tunbridge Wells is a thriving town full of businesses at all stages of growth, a hotbed of creative, financial, property and legal talent; a curated array of workspace at accessible prices, and probably one of the most well-balanced places to work with over 100 open green spaces within walking distance of the town centre. While families moving from London attracted to the superlative educational facilities here remains a story, this benefits our businesses because it brings more flexible talent that doesn't 'have' to commute every day and some extremely talented parents who are able to get back to work thanks to the flexible lifestyle the town offers.

A great example of this is Cripps - a top 100 law firm based in the town - who has a strong cohort of excellent parents who live and have chosen to work here. This has been both accelerated and facilitated by their employer recognising the opportunity and remodelling a working lifestyle that suits all stakeholders.

Let's also not forget the 5000 new businesses set up over the last five years in Tunbridge Wells and the immediate surrounding areas, on top of the existing impressive corporates that choose to call TW home - amongst them Childrensalon which reports outstanding growth year after year and is one of the fastest growing corporates in the UK.

We must leverage these successes and many others in this campaign which unashamedly presents Tunbridge Wells as 'the place to work, invest and do business.

Watch this space and, hopefully, join the campaign.