Sectors
Situated between the internationally renowned innovation hub of Cambridge, the eco–cluster of Peterborough and the manufacturing excellence it shares with neighbouring districts, Huntingdonshire offers an ideal location for your business.
Key Sectors
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is Huntingdonshire’s heritage and foundation sector. It has a mixture of long-established businesses that have been innovating for decades. This cluster boasts an enviable mix of strong traditional craft and skilled engineering labour pool that has attracted a new wave of R&D intensive businesses utilising advanced manufacturing methods to create a range of products (materials, composites etc) for the automotive, aerospace, medical, defence and technology sectors. Huntingdonshire has a diversity of world class design, research and development and manufacturing, supporting over 13,000 manufacturing jobs – 15.3% of total employment, well above both the regional and national average.
Technology
Huntingdonshire is a flourishing technology hub on the northern edge of the silicon fen – the high-tech hotspot around Cambridge. High tech businesses are well represented with a variety of sectors including high value manufacturing, bio/life sciences, clean tech and ICT at the forefront. It has 25 centres of academic excellence nearby including Cambridge and Cranfield for access to knowledge and staff. It is also an ideal alternative to the high-priced central Cambridge locations and provides lots of the necessary combined industrial, warehousing and office spaces, needed by tech companies to develop their products and services.
Life Sciences
The region is ideally placed for Life Sciences businesses who need to be close to the Cambridge Life Science cluster. Our existing cluster includes diagnostic, drug development, manufacture of reagents, clinical research services and remote monitoring systems to name a few, with the likes of LabCorp, Aseptika and NBS Biologicals based in the district. With lots of viable and affordable growth space, Huntingdonshire is playing a significant role as home to manufacturing and support services for a life science sector moving towards personalised medicine. Particularly, now that the A14/M11 has been upgraded to provide even faster road access to the cluster.
Sustainable Logistics
Huntingdonshire-based businesses are perfectly supported by the existing cluster of logistics and distribution companies. The transport infrastructure is second to none, being the key intersection of the north-south and east-west axis of road and rail links, including the A1(M), A14, M11, and the East Coast Mainline, giving easy access to London, Cambridge, the Midlands, and the North. Importantly, the Eastern seaports are all within easy reach including the UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe handling approximately 40% of the UK’s container trade.
Important growth sectors within the Huntingdonshire economy
Knowledge Intensive Services
Given the high density of companies conducting research and innovation within Huntingdonshire and the neighbouring region, there is a thriving community of knowledge intensive services businesses providing professional and consultancy services to support their growth. There are currently over 200 companies, employing more than 800 employees with a combined turnover of over £95m per annum.
Property and finance
With Cambridge and Peterborough both featuring in the top 20 towns and cities in the UK for number of construction projects over £5m and also consistently highly ranked for the volume of start-up businesses, it is no wonder there is a mature property and finance industry in Huntingdonshire. There are currently over 900 companies, turning over in excess of £250m, with an age of 15 years since incorporation.
Construction and Utilities
Another mainstay of the Huntingdonshire economy is the construction and utilities sector, with a combined turnover of over £2.2bn. Huntingdon is the headquarters of Anglian Water with over 5000 employees. As with the property and finance sector, the expansion of Cambridge and Peterborough, as well as growth within the district, supports an array of construction businesses from developers and builders to electrical and plumbing specialists.
Wholesale and Retail
With our marketing towns attracting more than 10.5 million visitors in 2021, in the middle of the covid pandemic, it is no wonder that wholesale and retail businesses are flourishing in Huntingdonshire. There are a wide range of retailers making Huntingdonshire their home – from the likes of our fastest growing company RB Golf limited, retailers of sports goods to our largest company Vindis Group, one of the biggest motor groups in the UK and also a 3rd generation family business.
Why Charpak Chose Huntingdonshire
The technology and advanced manufacturing company Charpak, based in Huntingdon, is an award-winning family business making thermoform packaging and is responsible for creating the UK’s first localised circular economy. Read more about their journey from St Neots-based toy manufacturer to a modern, dynamic packaging company transforming waste into resource in Huntingdon.
Why Charpak Chose Huntingdonshire
The technology and advanced manufacturing company Charpak, based in Huntingdon, is an award-winning family business making thermoform packaging and is responsible for creating the UK’s first localised circular economy. Read more about their journey from St Neots-based toy manufacturer to a modern, dynamic packaging company transforming waste into resource in Huntingdon.
Find a Property or Space
We’ve compiled a list of useful links to the online property lists of commercial property agents operating in Huntingdonshire and the Huntingdonshire District Council owned commercial property, as well as to aggregation websites like Rightmove, where you can do your own search of available spaces.
Or, if you’d prefer, we can do the hard work for you. Simply let the Economic Development Team at Invest in Huntingdonshire know what type of property you need for your business and we’ll do the initial search and provide options for you to consider.
