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The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
,
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
,
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
, Hertfordshire,
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and Suffolk.
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
has the highest population in the region. The population of the East of England region in 2018 was 6.24 million.
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
,
Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...
,
Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
,
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
,
Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
,
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
,
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
,
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
,
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
are the region's most populous settlements. The southern part of the region lies in the
London commuter belt The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London's infrastructure, and ...
.


Geography

The East of England region has the lowest elevation range in the UK. Twenty percent of the region is below mean sea level, most of this in North Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and on the Essex Coast. Most of the remaining area is of low elevation, with extensive glacial deposits.
The Fens The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...
, a large area of reclaimed marshland, are mostly in North Cambridgeshire. The Fens include the lowest point in the country in the village of Holme: 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) below mean sea level. This area formerly included the body of open water known as
Whittlesey Mere Whittlesea Mere was an area of open water in the Fenland area of the county of Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire), England. The mere occupied the land southeast of Yaxley Fen, south of Farcet Fen and north of Holme Fen. The town of Whit ...
. The highest point in the region is at Clipper Down at 817 ft (249 m) above mean sea level, in the far southwestern corner of the region in the Ivinghoe Hills. Communities known as
New Towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
, responses to urban congestion and World War II destruction, appeared in
Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
and Harlow (Essex), as well as in Stevenage and
Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
(Hertfordshire), in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s, the
Roskill Commission The Roskill Commission (formally the Commission on the Third London Airport) was a UK Government Commission charged with looking into finding a site for a new airport for London. Chaired by High Court judge Eustace Roskill, it sat from 1968 to ...
considered Cublington in Buckinghamshire,
Thurleigh Thurleigh is a village and civil parish in north Bedfordshire, England. History Excavations have shown evidence the locality was occupied in the Iron-Age, Roman and Saxon periods. In Domesday of 1086 the Middle English orthography as to bot ...
in Bedfordshire,
Nuthampstead Nuthampstead is a small village and civil parish in North East Hertfordshire located a few miles south of the town of Royston. In the 2001 census the parish had 139 residents, increasing to 142 at the 2011 Census. Nuthampstead was historically ...
in Hertfordshire and
Foulness Foulness Island () is a closed island on the east coast of Essex in England, which is separated from the mainland by narrow creeks. In the 2001 census, the usually resident population of the civil parish was 212, living in the settlements of Ch ...
in Essex as locations for a possible third airport for London. A new airport was not built, but a former Royal Air Force base at Stansted, which had previously been converted to civilian use redeveloped and expanded in the following decades.


Historical use

The East of England succeeded the standard statistical region East Anglia (which excluded
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
, Hertfordshire and
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
, then in the
South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
). The East of England civil defence region was identical to today's region.


East Anglia with Home Counties

Essex, despite meaning East-Saxons, previously formed part of
South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...
, along with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, a mixture of definite and debatable
Home counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
. The earliest use of the term is from 1695.
Charles Davenant Charles Davenant (1656–1714) was an English mercantilist economist, politician, and pamphleteer. He was Tory member of Parliament for St Ives (Cornwall), and for Great Bedwyn. Life He was born in London as the eldest son of Sir William Davena ...
, in ''An essay upon ways and means of supplying the war'', wrote, "The Eleven Home Counties, which are thought in Land Taxes to pay more than their proportion..." then cited a list including these four. The term does not appear to have been used in taxation since the 18th century.


Climate

East Anglia is one of the driest parts of the United Kingdom, with average rainfall ranging from . The area receives such low rainfall amounts because
low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
systems and
weather front A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For in ...
s from the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
lose a lot of moisture over land (and therefore are usually much weaker) by the time they reach Eastern England. Winter (mid-November – mid-March) is mostly cool, but non-prevailing cold easterly winds can affect the area from the continent. These can bring heavy snowfall if the winds interact with a
low-pressure system In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
over the Atlantic or
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. Northerly winds also can be cold but are not usually as cold as easterly winds. Westerly winds bring milder and, typically, wetter weather. Southerly winds usually bring mild air (if from the Atlantic or
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
) but chill if coming from further east than Spain. Spring (mid-March – May) is a transitional season that initially can be chilly but is usually warm by late-April/May. The weather at this time is often changeable (within each day) and occasionally showery. Summer (June – mid-September) is usually warm. Continental air from mainland Europe or the
Azores High The Azores High also known as North Atlantic (Subtropical) High/Anticyclone or the Bermuda-Azores High, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Ho ...
usually leads to at least a few weeks of hot, balmy weather with prolonged warm to hot temperatures. The number of summer storms from the Atlantic, such as the remnants of a
tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...
, usually coincides with the location of the jet stream. The East tends to receive much less rain than the other regions. Autumn (mid-September – mid-November) is usually mild with some days being very unsettled and rainy and others warm. At least part of September and early October in the East have warm and settled weather, but only in rare years is there an
Indian summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...
where fine weather marks the entire traditional harvest season.


Demographics


Population


Ethnicity


Politics


Elections

In the 2015 general election there was an overall swing of 0.25% from the Conservatives to Labour and the Liberal Democrats lost 16% of its vote. All of Hertfordshire and Suffolk is now Conservative. The region's electorate voted 49% Conservative, 22% Labour, 16% UKIP, 8% Liberal Democrat and 4% Green. Like other regions, the division of seats favours the dominant party in the region and the Conservatives had 52, Labour 4 (
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
,
Luton South Luton South is a constituency in Bedfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Rachel Hopkins, a member of the Labour Party. History This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton ...
, Luton North and
Norwich South Norwich South is a constituency in Norfolk represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since 2015 by Clive Lewis, of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created by the Representation of the Peopl ...
), UKIP 1 ( Clacton) and 1 Liberal Democrat ( North Norfolk).


Governance and regions


East of England Plan

The East of England Plan, a revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England, was published on 12 May 2008. It was revoked on 3 January 2013.


Local government

The official
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
consists of the following subdivisions:


Eurostat NUTS

In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), the East of England was a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKH", which was subdivided as follows: After the UK's departure from the EU, the UK NUTS regions were renamed as
International Territorial Level International Territorial Level (ITL) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of the United Kingdom for statistical purposes, used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). From 2003 and until 2020 it functioned as part of th ...
regions in 2021.


History


Civil War and the Protectorate

The East of England was a major force and resource for Parliament and, in particular, in the form of the
Eastern Association The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian mi ...
.
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
came from Huntingdon.


Second World War

Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex played host to the American
VIII Bomber Command 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of ...
and
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
. The Imperial War Museum at Duxford has an exhibition, commemorating their participation and sacrifice, near to the M11 south of Cambridge. Stansted Airport was
RAF Stansted Mountfitchet RAF Stansted Mountfitchet was a Royal Air Force station during the Second World War located near the village of Stansted Mountfitchet in the District of Uttlesford in Essex, north-east of central London. The airfield is now London Stansted Air ...
, home to the 344th Bombardment Group. The de Havilland Mosquito was mainly assembled at Hatfield and Leavesden, although much of the innovative wooden structure originated outside the region from the furniture industry of
High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
; the Mosquito entered service in 1942 with 105 Sqn at
RAF Horsham St Faith RAF Horsham St Faith is a former Royal Air Force station near Norwich, Norfolk, England which was operational from 1939 to 1963. It was then developed as Norwich International Airport. RAF Bomber Command use The airfield was first developed ...
.
RAF Tempsford RAF Tempsford is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Sandy, Bedfordshire, England and south of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. As part of the Royal Air Force Special Duty Service, the airfield was perhaps the most ...
in Bedford is the airfield from where SOE secret agents for Europe took off, with 138 Sqn which parachuted agents and equipment and 161 Sqn which landed and retrieved agents. 19 Sqn at Duxford was the first to be equipped with the Spitfire on 4 August 1938.


Cold War

The 81st Tactical Fighter Wing was at
RAF Bentwaters Royal Air Force Bentwaters or more simply RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about northeast of London and east-northeast of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England. Its name was taken fro ...
from January 1952 and also at
RAF Woodbridge Royal Air Force Woodbridge or RAF Woodbridge, is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Woodbridge in the county of Suffolk, England. Constructed in 1943 as a Royal Air Force (RAF) military airfield during the Second World War to a ...
; in the late 1980s some of the aircraft went to
RAF Alconbury Royal Air Force Alconbury or more simply RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, England. The airfield is in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, close to the villages of Great Stukeley, Little Stukeley, and Alconbur ...
. Alconbury closed in 1992 and Bentwaters closed in 1993, with the American air forces being in the area for 42 years; the USAF aircraft subsequently moved to Spangdahlem Air Base in
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, Germany. At RAF Marham in west Norfolk,
214 Sqn No. 214 Squadron is a former unit of the Royal Air Force. History World War I No 214 Squadron was formed from No. 14 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), itself formerly ''No. 7A Squadron RNAS'' only taking on the new number on 9 December ...
with the Vickers Valiant developed the RAF's refuelling system; later the squadron would be equipped with the
Handley Page Victor The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final '' V bomber'' to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avr ...
. Work on refuelling had also taken place at
RAF Tarrant Rushton Royal Air Force Tarrant Rushton or more simply RAF Tarrant Rushton is a former Royal Air Force station near the village of Tarrant Rushton east of Blandford Forum in Dorset, England from 1943 to 1947. It was used for glider operations during W ...
in
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
. From the 1950s,
RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has b ...
was an important reconnaissance base for the RAF, mainly 543 Sqn. The base is now home of the
Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre The Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre (DIFC) is based at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. Largely created from the staff of the National Imagery Exploitation Centre (formerly known as the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (JARIC)) and th ...
, previously known as JARIC, or the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre from 1956.


Healthcare

NHS East of England, which was the strategic health authority for the area until the abolition of these areas in 2013, is on Capital Park, next to Fulbourn Tesco, Fulbourn Hospital, and the Cambridge-Ipswich railway, on the eastern edge of Cambridge. The
East of England Ambulance Service The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is an NHS trust responsible for providing National Health Service (NHS) ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in the ...
is on Cambourne Business Park on
Cambourne Cambourne is a new settlement and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It lies on the A428 road between Cambridge, 9 miles (14 km) to the east, and St Neots and Bedford to the west. It compris ...
, of the
A428 The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421, (and the A43, M40 and the A34), the eastern se ...
(the former A45) west of Cambridge. The
East Anglian Air Ambulance The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is an air ambulance providing Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) across the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. The appeal to fund the service was launched in ...
operates from
Cambridge Airport Cambridge City Airport , previously Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, is a regional airport in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge, south of Newmarket Road and west of the village of Teversham, from the ...
and
Norwich Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England, north of Norwich. In 2017, Norwich Airport was the 28th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in the East Anglia region. Norwich Airport has a CAA Public Use Aero ...
; Essex Air Ambulance operates from
Boreham Boreham is a village and civil parish, in Essex, England. The parish is in the City of Chelmsford and Chelmsford Parliament constituency. The village is approximately northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. History Boreham is listed i ...
.


Economy

The former electricity company for the area,
Eastern Electricity Eastern Electricity plc was an electricity supply and distribution utility serving eastern England, including East Anglia and part of Greater London. It was renamed ''Eastern Group'' under which name it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and ...
, has the area's distribution now looked after by
UK Power Networks UK Power Networks is a distribution network operator for electricity covering South East England, the East of England and London. It manages three licensed distribution networks (Eastern Power Networks, South Eastern Power Networks and London Pow ...
at Fore Hamlet in
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
. UK Power Networks also looks after London and most of the South-East.
Business Link Business Link was a government-funded business advice and guidance service established in England in 1992. It consisted of an online portal managed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and a national telephone helpline. The service's network of ...
in the East of England is next door to the headquarters of
T-Mobile UK T-Mobile UK was a mobile network operator in the UK. First launched as Mercury One2One (stylised one2one) on 7 January 1993, the network was originally operated by Mercury Communications. one2one was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999, w ...
in Hatfield, at the roundabout of the A1057 and the A1001 on the Bishops Square Business Park. The region's Manufacturing Advisory Service is at Melbourn in Cambridgeshire, off the A10 and north of Royston.
UK Trade & Investment , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = UKtrade.svg , logo_width = 190px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Department for Business, Enter ...
for the region is in
Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...
with its international trade team based next to
Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
.


Hertfordshire

The Greater
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
area is home to
British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...
, Vinci (which bought
Taylor Woodrow Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until its merger with rival George Wimpey to create Ta ...
in 2008), the UK of the international firm
Total Oil TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration an ...
, retailers
TK Maxx TK Maxx is a subsidiary of the American apparel and home goods company TJX Companies based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The stores operate throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, totalli ...
,
Bathstore Bathstore.com Ltd., (also known as bathstore) is the largest specialist bathroom retailer in the United Kingdom. History Bathstore was originally started in the beginning of the 1990s by Patrick Riley and Nico de Beer, with the idea to bring q ...
,
Majestic Wine Majestic Wine is Great Britain’s largest specialist retailer of wine. The company employs over 1,400 staff nationwide, and operates more than 200 stores in the United Kingdom. The business is headquartered in Watford and has a distribution cen ...
,
Mothercare Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to eight years of age. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap In ...
,
Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
and
Smiths Detection Smiths Group plc is a British, multinational, diversified engineering business headquartered in London, England. It operates in over 50 countries and employs 14,600 staff. Smiths Group has its origins in a jewellery shop, ''S Smith & Sons'', ...
, Iveco, BrightHouse (at
Abbots Langley Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was ...
),
Leavesden Film Studios Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...
,
Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka, Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiari ...
,
Europcar Europcar Mobility Group is a French car rental company founded in 1949 in Paris. The head office of the holding company, Europcar Group S.A., is in the business park of Val Saint-Quentin at Voisins-le-Bretonneux (Saint Quentin en Yvelines), Fr ...
, Olympus, Kenwood and
Beko Beko ( ; stylized as beko) is a Turkish major appliance and consumer electronics brand of Arçelik A.Ş. controlled by Koç Holding. History Beko Elektronik A.Ş. was founded by Vehbi Koç, the founder of Koç Holding (who also founded Ar ...
electronic goods manufacturers,
Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It op ...
pub chains, the European HQ of the Hilton hotel group and
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
Waters; in Garston is the UK headquarters of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
, on the A412 and the
Building Research Establishment The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is a centre of building science in the United Kingdom, owned by charitable organisation the BRE Trust. It is a former UK government national laboratory that was privatised in 1997. BRE provides resear ...
.
Comet Group Comet Electricals Limited, trading as Comet, is an online electrical retail chain based in the United Kingdom. The company sells consumer electronics and white goods, along with related products and services. Its predecessor, under the same bra ...
and
Camelot Group The Camelot Group is the operator of the UK National Lottery whose current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until February 2024. It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 20 ...
(owners of the National Lottery), on the A4145, are in
Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...
.
Ferrero Ferrero (Italian: , Spanish: ) is a surname of Italian (from Piedmont) and Spanish origin that means 'smith', the person who works with iron, in parallel with surnames like Ferraro, Ferrari and Smith. Notable people with the surname Ferrero inclu ...
(maker of
Nutella Nutella (; ; ) is a brand of sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero and was first introduced in 1964, although its first iteration dates to 1963. History Pietro Ferrero owned a bakery in Alba, ...
and
Kinder Chocolate Kinder Chocolate ( it, Kinder Cioccolato; "Kinder" is German for “Children") is a brand of chocolate bars produced by Italian multinational confectionery company Ferrero. Kinder Chocolate In Alba, Italy, in 1968, Michele Ferrero, propo ...
) is in
Croxley Green Croxley Green is both a village and a suburb of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is also a civil parish. Located on the A412 between Watford to the northeast and Rickmansworth to the southwest, it is approximately northwest of central ...
.
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
and
Skanska Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
(construction) are in
Maple Cross Maple Cross is a village in Hertfordshire, England, which up until the Second World War consisted of an inn, a blacksmith's shop and a few cottages. Today there are around 800 postwar council houses. Some of these have been sold into private ow ...
.


Bedfordshire

Moto Hospitality Moto Hospitality, branded as Moto, is a British service station operator which operates 59 motorway service stations across the United Kingdom. It is currently the UK's largest service area operator. History Operations (2001–2020) Granada ...
has its headquarters at
Toddington Toddington could be *Toddington, Bedfordshire **Toddington services, M1 motorway *Toddington, Gloucestershire **Toddington railway station Toddington railway station serves the village of Toddington in Gloucestershire, England. Since 1984 it h ...
in Bedfordshire (at the
Toddington services Toddington Services is a motorway service station on the M1 motorway between junctions 11A and 12, just north of Luton and Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It takes its name from the nearby village of Toddington. It is owned by Moto Hospitali ...
). Luton is home to
EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
,(based at the airport),
Hain Celestial Group The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. is an American food company whose main focus is natural foods and botanically-based personal care products. Its products range from herbal teas, sold by its Celestial Seasonings brand to snacks offered through its Te ...
(which makes
Linda McCartney Foods Linda McCartney Foods is a British food brand specializing in vegetarian and vegan food. Available in the UK, as well as Norway, Ireland, Austria, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, the range includes chilled and frozen meat analogues in ...
and is based on the B579 in
Biscot Biscot is an area of Luton close to the town centre, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The area is roughly bounded by Montrose Avenue to the north, the Midland Main Line to the west, and the A6 to the eas ...
),
Eurolines Eurolines is a brand of intercity bus service owned by an international non-profit organisation formed under Belgian law. Using the Eurolines brand, partner bus companies operate service to over 600 destinations in 36 countries of Europe, as wel ...
(UK office),
Thomson Holidays Thomson Travel Group plc was a business formed by the Thomson Corporation of Canada, when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. It was acquired by Preussag AG, an industrial and transport conglomerate, in 2000. The group continu ...
(based at Wigmore on the eastern edge of the town) and
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
(at Griffin House, the Vauxhall head office). At the 85-acre
Capability Green A capability is the ability to execute a specified course of action or to achieve certain outcomes. As it applies to human capital, capability represents performing or achieving certain actions/outcomes in terms of the intersection of capacity an ...
off the A1081 and junction 10a of the M1, is the
Stonegate Pub Company Stonegate Pub Company is the largest pub company in the UK, operating around 4,800 managed, leased and tenanted pubs . It is owned by TDR Capital. The head office is based in Solihull, UK, and the company is registered in the Cayman Islands. His ...
(owner of
Scream Pubs Scream (formerly known as It's A Scream) was a student-oriented pub chain in the United Kingdom owned by the Stonegate Pub Company. The chain began in October 1995. History The pub chain was set up by brewers Bass, who called it, It's a Scre ...
,
Yates's Yates is a British pub chain. It was founded as Yates's Wine Lodge in Oldham, Lancashire by Peter and Simon Yates in 1884. History Yates is Britain's oldest pub chain. Its motto was ''moderation is true temperance''. The founders, brother ...
,
Slug and Lettuce Slug and Lettuce is a chain of bars that operate in the United Kingdom, with a large number located in London and South East England. As of 2017, there are a total of 70 outlets. Hugh Corbett opened the first Slug and Lettuce in Islington i ...
and Hogshead),
InBev InBev () is a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheu ...
UK (which bought most of Whitbread's beer brands), Chargemaster (
electric vehicle network An electric vehicle charging network is an infrastructure system of charging stations to recharge electric vehicles. Many government, car manufacturers, and charging infrastructure providers sought to create networks. the largest fast-chargin ...
under the POLAR brand),
AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...
's UK Marketing Company division and
Alexon Group Alexon Group plc was an clothing retailer, based in Luton, England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol AXN). It was an constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index The FTSE Fledgling Index comprises companies listed on the ma ...
(ladies clothing).
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
produced its last
Vauxhall Vectra The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car (large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in saloon, hatchback and estate body styles, the Vectra was also sold by the Vauxhall marque i ...
in March 2002 at the plant near the A6/A505 roundabout, and now makes vans (
Vivaro Vivaro ( fur, Vivâr) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northeast of Pordenone. Vivaro borders the following municipalities: ...
/
Renault Trafic The Renault Trafic (pronounced as "traffic") is a light commercial van produced by the French automaker Renault since 1980. It is also marketed as the Fiat Talento, the Nissan NV300, the Nissan Primastar, the Mitsubishi Express and, until the ...
) at the former
Bedford Vehicles Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle manufactured by Vauxhall Motors, then a subsidiary of multinational corporation General Motors. Established in April 1931, Bedford Vehicles was set up to build commer ...
plant, based in the north of the town at the GM Manufacturing Luton plant.


East Anglia

The economy in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk is traditionally mostly agricultural. Norfolk is the UK's biggest producer of potatoes. Nationally known companies include the RAC,
Archant Archant Limited is a newspaper and magazine publishing company headquartered in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 50 weekly newspapers, and 80 consumer and contract magazines. Archant employs around 1,250 empl ...
(publishing),
Virgin Money Virgin Money is a financial services brand used by two independent brand-licensees worldwide from the Virgin Group. Virgin Money branded services are currently available in Australia and the United Kingdom. The brand formerly operated in South Af ...
and Aviva (formerly
Norwich Union Norwich Union was the name of insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. On 29 April 2008, Aviva ...
) in Norwich. In Carrow, to the east of the city,
Colman's Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited ra ...
makes a wide range of mustards, and
Britvic Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands. Hist ...
makes Robinsons squash, which was owned by Colman's until 1995. Across the
River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the vil ...
near the A47/ A146 junction in Trowse with Newton is
May Gurney Kier Group plc is a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative. Founded in 1928 in Stoke-on-Trent it initially specialised in concrete engin ...
, the construction company.
Bernard Matthews Farms Bernard Matthews Holdings Ltd., trading as Bernard Matthews Foods Ltd, is a British farming and food products business with its headquarters in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, England, which specialises in turkey products. Founded by Bernard Matt ...
has a large turkey farm on the former
RAF Attlebridge Royal Air Force Attlebridge or more simply RAF Attlebridge is a former Royal Air Force station located near Attlebridge and northwest of Norwich, Norfolk, England. History Attlebridge airfield had runways of 1,220, 1,120 and 1,080 yards len ...
in
Weston Longville Weston Longville is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately north-west of Norwich. Its name is derived from the Manor of Longaville in Normandy, France, which owned the local land in the 12th century. It covers an area ...
.
Campbell Soup Campbell Soup Company, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has grown to become ...
was made in
Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
until 2008, and on the Hardwick Industrial Estate at the A47/ A149 junction is PinguinLutosa the UK, which packs frozen vegetables, and Caithness Crystal. Foster Refrigerator is the UK's leading manufacturer of commercial refrigerators and blast chillers, owned by
Illinois Tool Works Illinois Tool Works Inc. or ITW is an American Fortune 200 company that produces engineered fasteners and components, equipment and consumable systems, and specialty products. It was founded in 1912 by Byron L. Smith and has built its growth on ...
, based on the industrial estate; with Multitone Electronics, which has a manufacturing plant there, and which invented the
pager A pager (also known as a beeper or bleeper) is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknow ...
in 1956, for St Thomas' Hospital; and Snap-on Diagnostics makes
diagnostic tool Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engin ...
s for garages. Linda McCartney sausages are made by Hain Celestial Frozen Foods at
Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north west of Norwich. The town is the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to Norw ...
, where Kinnerton Confectionery produces around 6000 tonnes of chocolate each year, which is mostly private label (supermarket) products. British Sugar's Wissington is the world's largest
sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
factory in Methwold, on the B1160 near the
River Wissey The River Wissey is a river in Norfolk, eastern England. It rises near Bradenham, and flows for nearly to join the River Great Ouse at Fordham. The lower are navigable. The upper reaches are notable for a number of buildings of historic int ...
. Lotus Cars and
Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...
are on the eastern edge of the former
RAF Hethel Royal Air Force Hethel or more simply RAF Hethel is a former Royal Air Force station which was used by both the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The airfield is located south we ...
, east of
Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich off the A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through. The parish, one of Norfolk's largest, includes rural areas to ...
(A11) at
Hethel Hethel is a small village in Norfolk, England, approximately southeast of the market town of Wymondham, and approximately south of the city of Norwich. According to the 2001 census, the Bracon Ash and Hethel parish covered an area of and ha ...
(
Bracon Ash Bracon Ash is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. History Bracon Ash's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and refers to a place with abundant bracken and ash. In the Domesday Book, Bracon Ash is recorded as ...
). Jeyes Group makes household chemicals in
Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...
, off the A134;
Multiyork Multiyork was a privately owned British furniture retailer based in Thetford, Norfolk. The company employed nearly 550 people in its 50 stores across the United Kingdom and its factory and head office in Thetford, where it was a major business ...
makes furniture and
Baxter Healthcare Baxter International Inc. is an American multinational healthcare company with headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. The company primarily focuses on products to treat kidney disease, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. The compan ...
has a manufacturing plant in the south of the town.
Aunt Bessie Aunt Bessie's Limited (until 2008 known as Tryton Foods Ltd) is a UK producer of frozen food products under the brand name Aunt Bessie's. The company produces frozen Yorkshire puddings, potato products, meal accompaniments, ready meals, vegeta ...
vegetable products (roast potatoes) are made by Heinz at Westwick, in a factory built by Ross Group. Around Cambridge on numerous
science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park”, "technopark", “technopole", or a "science and technology park" (STP)) is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters the growt ...
s, are high technology (electronics and biochemistry) companies, such as ARM Holdings on Peterhouse Technology Park in the south-east of the town,
Adder Technology Adder Technology is a manufacturer of information technology hardware based in Cambridge, England, UK. It is the largest producer of keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) controllers in Europe. History The company began in 1984 as Adder Publishing and ...
(
KVM switch A KVM switch (with KVM being an abbreviation for "keyboard, video, and mouse") is a hardware device that allows a user to control multiple computers from one or more sets of keyboards, video monitors, and mice. Name Switches to connect mu ...
es) at
Bar Hill Bar Hill is a purpose-built village with a population of 4,000 about 4 miles (7 km) northwest of Cambridge, England on the A14 road, just east of the Prime Meridian. History Prior to the building of the Bar Hill settlement the area was ...
at the A14/B1050 junction north of the town,
Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...
,
Play.com Rakuten.co.uk is a website owned by Rakuten, that operates as an online marketplace. The website does not sell any products directly, but instead allows third party sellers to sell their products. The website replaced Play.com, which was origin ...
on the Cambridge Business Centre. The
Wellcome Trust Genome Campus The Wellcome Genome Campus is a scientific research campus built in the grounds of Hinxton Hall, Hinxton in Cambridgeshire, England. Campus The Campus is home to some institutes and organisations in genomics and computational biology. The C ...
has the
European Bioinformatics Institute The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is an Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) which, as part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) family, focuses on research and services in bioinformatics. It is located on the Well ...
at
Hinxton Hinxton is a village in South Cambridgeshire, England. The River Cam runs through the village, as does the Cambridge to Liverpool Street railway, though the village has no station. Hinxton parish's southern boundaries form the border between Ca ...
east of Duxford near the M11 spur for the A11. These form the so-called
Silicon Fen Silicon Fen (also known as the Cambridge Cluster) is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a large business cluster, cluster of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics and biotechnology, s ...
.
Marshall Aerospace Marshall Group, formerly Marshall of Cambridge and Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, is a British company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Subsidiaries include Marshall Aerospace, an aircraft maintenance, modification, and desig ...
is at
Cambridge Airport Cambridge City Airport , previously Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, is a regional airport in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge, south of Newmarket Road and west of the village of Teversham, from the ...
on the A1303 in the east of the town, towards
Teversham Teversham is a small village in Cambridgeshire located roughly from Fulbourn, and is roughly from the centre of Cambridge. It is small compared to neighbouring villages. Although just a few hundred metres from the edge of Cambridge it is bord ...
. South of the airport, Carl Zeiss NTS makes scanning electron microscopes in Cherry Hinton. Syngenta is to the east of Cambridge, on Capital Park at Fulbourn.
Premier Foods Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, Lyons, Sharwood's, Loy ...
has a large plant in
Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...
making
Robertson's Robertson's is a British brand of marmalades and fruit preserves that was founded by James Robertson in 1864. The firm was run as a partnership until 1903, when it was incorporated as a limited company - James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufactu ...
and
Hartley's Hartley's is a brand of marmalades, jams and jellies, originally from the United Kingdom, which is manufactured at Histon, Cambridgeshire. The brand was formerly owned by Premier Foods, until it was sold along with the factory in Histon to Hai ...
jam,
Gale's Gale's is a UK brand of honey, currently owned by Premier Foods. The former company had been established in 1919, remaining independent until it was acquired by Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery in 1986. History The company was established in ...
honey, Smash instant potato, and Rose's
marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamo ...
.
Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...
is a pioneering hospital in the UK, based at
Cambridge Biomedical Campus The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe. The site is located at the southern end of Hills Road in Cambridge, England. Over 20,000 people work at the site, which is home to Cambridge ...
.


Universities

The most famous university in the region is the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. The university has been officially rated as the best in the world in 2010. It has the second-best medicine course in the world, and in 2010 became the only university outside of the US to raise over £1 billion in charitable donations. There are eight universities in the region. Cambridge hosts two universities: the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
and
Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...
. It is also the home of the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
's East of England branch. Norwich also hosts two universities: the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
and
Norwich University of the Arts Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is a public university in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom that specialises in art, design and media. It was founded as Norwich School of Design in 1845 and has a long history of arts education. It gained ful ...
. There are also other towns and cities in the region which have universities including Bedford and Luton (
University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The University has roots from 1882, however, it gained university status in 1993 as the University of Luton. The Universi ...
), Colchester (
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
) and Hatfield (
University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...
). Other higher education centres in the region include
University Centre Peterborough University Centre Peterborough is a small higher education institution with campuses in Peterborough and Stamford, Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. It is formally part of the Inspire Education Group. Degrees at the Peterborough Campus are accr ...
,
University of Suffolk The University of Suffolk is a public university situated in Suffolk and Norfolk, England. The modern university was established in 2007 as University Campus Suffolk (UCS), the institution was founded as a unique collaboration between the Univer ...
and
Writtle College Writtle University College is a university college located in Writtle near Chelmsford, Essex. It was founded in 1893. Writtle obtained University College status in May 2016. Its countryside estate features a wide range of facilities, includin ...
. . The University of Cambridge receives almost three times as much funding as any other university in the region, due to its huge research grant—the largest in England (and the UK). The next largest, by funding, is
UEA UEA may stand for: Universities * University of East Africa, established in June 1963 and split, in 1970, into: ** Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda ** University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania ** University of Nairobi in Kenya * University of ...
in Norwich. The
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
and Cranfield University also have moderately large research grants, but no other universities in the region do. The largest university by student numbers is ARU, and the next biggest is Cambridge. The smallest is Essex. For total income to universities, Cambridge receives around £1 billion—around six times larger than any other university in the region. The
University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The University has roots from 1882, however, it gained university status in 1993 as the University of Luton. The Universi ...
receives the least income. Cambridge has the lowest drop-out (discontinuation) rate in the region. Once graduated, over 50% of students stay in the region, with 25% going to London and 10% going to the South East. Very few go elsewhere—especially the North of England. * University of Cambridge * University of East Anglia * University of Essex * University of Hertfordshire * Anglia Ruskin University * University of Bedfordshire


Sport


Football

During the nineteenth century, several formulations of the laws of football, known as the Cambridge rules, were created by students at the University. One of these codes, dating from 1863, had a significant influence on the creation of the original
laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...
of
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
. East of England's top representatives in the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
today are
Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
,
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
,
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
and
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
, who have competed in the top flight at various points. Alongside teams
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
, and
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...
.


Literature

Children's author
Dodie Smith Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (3 May 1896 – 24 November 1990) was an English novelist and playwright. She is best known for writing ''I Capture the Castle'' (1948) and the children's novel '' The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1956). Other works ...
lived near to the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, and part of her famous novel
The Hundred and One Dalmatians ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' is a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies. It was originally serialized in ''Woman's Day'' as ''The Great Dog Robbery'', and details the adventures of ...
which inspired the Disney animated film of the same name takes place in the town at St Peter's Church.


Media


Television

Much of the region receives the
BBC East BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, northern Buckinghamshire, and the majority of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. It is headquartered in The Forum, Norwich since 2003. It wa ...
and
ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated ...
television services, both based in Norwich (the BBC moving from All Saints' Green to The Forum in 2003, and Anglia remaining at its original base, Angia House.) These services broadcast from the Sandy Heath. Sudbury and
Tacolneston Tacolneston () is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk District of Norfolk with a population of around 700, measured at the 2011 Census as a population of 825. Its name occurs in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Tacoluestuna'' and is theori ...
transmitter groups. Some areas in close proximity to London, including south Essex, may receive their service from
BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...
and
ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...
; in addition, the
Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
relay transmitter is a relay of the London services from
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, bringing London television into parts of Hertfordshire. Some editions of '' Look East'' and ''
ITV News Anglia ''ITV News Anglia'' is a British television news service for the East of England, broadcast and produced by ITV Anglia. History ''Anglia News'' replaced the long-running news magazine programme ''About Anglia'' on Monday, 9 July 1990. Initially ...
'' broadcast split news programming for the West (Home Counties) and East (East Anglia/Essex) of the region, with the West subregions broadcasting from Sandy Heath; the BBC's Western opt-outs are broadcast from studios in Cambridge, also the base of
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire BBC Radio Cambridgeshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cambridgeshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the Cambridge Business Park on Cowley Road in Cambridge. According to ...
, whilst both versions of the ITV Anglia output have broadcast from Anglia House in Norwich since the split service was introduced in 1990.


Radio

* BBC Local Radio services in the region include stations for
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
,
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
,
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
and Three Counties Radio, which serves Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Radio Cambridgeshire previously broadcast some split programming specific to the Peterborough area - at one point broadcasting this under the BBC Radio Peterborough name - but this opt-out was withdrawn in 2012 as a cost-cutting measure.


See also

*
East of England (European Parliament constituency) East of England was a constituency of the European Parliament that was coterminous with the East of England region. It returned 7 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, until the UK exit from the European Union ...
*
East of England Regional Strategy Board The East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) is an association of the 52 local authorities in the East of England. It is a regional grouping of the Local Government Association and the Regional employers organisations, regional employer ...
*
East of England Development Agency The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) was a non-departmental public body and the regional development agency for the East of England region of England. It came into operation on 1 April 1999 and assumed the regional powers of English Par ...
*
Regions of England The regions, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England, established in 1994. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within government. While they no ...
*
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...


Lists

* List of future transport developments in the East of England * List of schools in the East of England


References


External links


Official visitor website for the East of England
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Of England Regions of England Southern England NUTS 1 statistical regions of England NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union