Basildon

Basildon sits approximately 26 miles east of central London and 11 miles south of the city of Chelmsford. It was one of the first New Towns to be created after World War II and, as a Borough, now encapsulates the neighbouring towns of Billericay and Wickford.

The town is well connected, having three stations on the route into London Fenchurch Street, whilst sitting adjacent to both the A127 and A30 main arterial routes.

These roads give direct access onto the M25 at Junction 29 and at Junction 30 (Dartford Crossing).

Commercially, Basildon has a core retail area situated around the Eastgate Centre. In addition, the town centre originally contained a number of first generation office buildings, but many of these have now been converted under PDR and the office market within the town is now reasonably small and fragmented.

As with other regional new towns such as Harlow, the industrial and warehouse market has moved heavily towards the latter, but there continues to be a significant Ford representation in the town comprising both the tractor plant and the research and development site at Dunton. The age of the town has allowed regeneration of the older commercial stock and there has been a steady stream of B2/B8 development over recent years which have seen a strong take-up. There continues to be a good mix of warehouse and industrial properties and the town continues to be popular with manufacturers and warehouse operations. Basildon is often considered, due to the A13 connections, as a good alternative to Grays and Thurrock as an operational centre.