Innovation and Enterprise

Watford has a long standing history of innovation and enterprise and is a major regional centre for the northern home counties.

Watford is home to more that 3,000 businesses, including many internationally renowned companies such as The Building Research Establishment (BRE), Renewable Energy Systems (RES), Sigma Pharmaceuticals, Aviva, The Hilton Hotels Group & Hilton International, J.D. Wetherspoon plc, Total UK, TJX Europe, BPL (Bio Products Laboratory) and the Camelot Group.

Watford also has a high level of self-employment and a flourishing and diverse small business sector – one of the key signs of an entrepreneurial culture.

VAT registrations and de-registrations are often the best guide to the pattern of business start-ups and closures. They are an indicator of the level of entrepreneurship and of the health of the business population. Watford has historically seen positive increases in the overall number of VAT registered businesses, with substaintial increase particularly in 2005 and 2007. The recession will undoubtedly have had an impact on business survival rates, however local intelligence suggests that the towns entrepreneurial and innovative culture has ensured that we have not experienced similar levels of business de-registrations to many other comparative areas within the UK.

The wider county of Hertfordshire is also renowned for its particular strength in research and development, particularly in the IT, pharmaceuticals and bio-technology sectors, largely concentrated around the University of Hertfordshire and other leading companies such as GSK.

Over 55% of Watford’s companies are knowledge based businesses who are regularly breaking new ground and leading the way in the diverse industries they represent.

Contact us today to find out about how your organisation could be part of Hertfordshire’s vibrant and exciting business community.