LEATHERHEAD IS THE BUSINESS Six good reasons to do business in Leatherhead & District “A key part of transforming our company into a winning, competitive business was to have one head office that brings all our people into a positive working environment.” Alan Walters, Vice President (VP) Human Resources, Unilever, which moved its head office to Leatherhead in November 2008. Page 2 I Essential Leatherhead Business 01REASON OUTSTANDING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT The Greater South East region, in which • Buchanan & Curwen: based in Leatherhead since 1907, Leatherhead is centrally placed, is often specialising in the design and installation of electrical and described as “the powerhouse for the rest of the security systems. UK economy”. The region is the single largest • ExxonMobil: the world’s largest publicly traded contributor to the UK economy and the number international oil and gas company is celebrating 20 years in Leatherhead. one location in the UK for Foreign Direct • Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR): one of the world’s premier Investment. Home to around 750,000 businesses engineering, procurement and construction companies. and 16 universities, the South East is generally • Logica: a business and technology service company, advanced, high-income, highly skilled, broadly- employing 39,000 people across 36 countries. based and service-oriented. • Prowse & Company Ltd: an established and respected public relations and marketing consultancy. BUOYANT LOCAL ECONOMY • The Police Federation of England and Wales: a staff Leatherhead is one of the main commercial centres of the association for all police constables, sergeants and Mole Valley District supported by the villages of Ashtead, inspectors. Bookham and Fetcham. The local economy is buoyant, with • Unilever: relocated over 1,000 employees in 2008 to a new unemployment levels among the lowest in the UK. Studies by UK head office in Leatherhead. the Henley Centre show that the District performs well in • Wates Group: entered the Sunday Times 100 Best terms of key economic growth drivers, e.g. industrial Companies to Work For list for the first time in 2010 and structure, quality of the labour force and social capital. received a special award for ‘Giving Something Back’. Multi-national corporates, membership organisations and innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have chosen to locate in the area including: Did You Know? Leatherhead is at the western apex of the Gatwick Diamond sub-region. Visit www.gatwickdiamond.co.uk for more information. Essential Leatherhead Business I Page 3 02REASON EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION LINKS Leatherhead enjoys multi-modal connectivity with the UK BY ROAD and international business destinations. It is less than 20 Junction 9 of the M25 London Orbital motorway is just half a miles from central London and at the hub of a major travel mile from Leatherhead town centre, providing access to all network. Its road, rail and air links ensure UK, European and parts of the UK: the North (A1, M1), South (M3, M23), East global markets are easily accessible. Yet only a few minutes (M2, M20, M11) and West (M4, M40). The A3 major regional away lie the North Downs, an outstanding area of woodland trunk road is less than 10 miles away via the M25, giving and chalk downland, and a site of special scientific interest. access to the coast at Portsmouth and to central London. The town provides access to a large pool of potential employees, with more than ten million people living within BY RAIL one hour’s travel. The frequent direct service to London (Waterloo, Victoria and The proximity of Heathrow and Gatwick airports creates London Bridge) takes around 45 minutes. Other destinations access to global markets and technological skills which are easily accessible by rail include Horsham (29 minutes) and driving high rates of economic growth. Guildford (26 minutes). BY AIR The UK’s two largest international airports, Heathrow and Did You Know? Gatwick, are within 25 miles of Leatherhead via the motorway Leatherhead is less than one hour’s drive from network. Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, major towns such as Brighton, Basingstoke, is less than one hour’s drive away whilst Gatwick Airport, the Reading, High Wycombe, Watford and Luton. UK's second largest business airport, with 80 airlines serving over 200 destinations, is within a 30 minute drive. Page 4 I Essential Leatherhead Business Prowse is an award-winning corporate communications consultancy advising local businesses, large corporations and governments worldwide. With extensive experience across To find out how we can help you business and consumer sectors, achieve your PR and marketing we help clients to raise their profile, objectives, telephone Joanne Rogers manage communications issues on 01372 363386 or visit our website at and gain new customers. www.prowse.co.uk. The Ashtead ...linking your business with 10,000 homes in Ashtead, Leatherhead, & Leatherhead Fetcham and Langley Vale. Advertisements from as little as £47 + VAT per month for a quarter page Zen George 01372 376420 [email protected] www.ashtead-leatherhead.com Essential Leatherhead Business I Page 5 Q&A WITH EXXONMOBIL ExxonMobil’s UK headquarters has been based We analysed where our employees lived (to cause the least in Leatherhead since 1990 and forms an integral disruption) and identified transport links, both for employees part of the region’s wider community. Here, and for visitors to our office, including colleagues from abroad and from our refinery at Fawley, which is within Stella Crossley, Community Affairs Adviser reasonable travelling distance. One of the deciding factors in explains the reasons behind the multinational’s favour of Leatherhead was the good communications move to Leatherhead and subsequent provided by the M25, which had recently opened, providing involvement in the neighbourhood: easy access to and from Heathrow and Gatwick. 1. When did ExxonMobil move its UK headquarters to 3. How many employees are currently based in the Leatherhead? Leatherhead offices? The move from Esso's office in central London was phased in We have just over 800 employees and approximately 200 between June and October 1990. At that stage the building contractors based here. Of these, 160 employees live in the provided the UK’s headquarters for Esso’s downstream KT22 postcode area, but many more live in neighbouring activities in which crude oil is refined into products, villages and towns, such as Ashtead, Epsom, Dorking and distributed and marketed. Since then, the building has seen Reigate. the arrival of former Mobil staff following the merger between Exxon (Esso’s parent company) and Mobil in 1999, 4. How is ExxonMobil involved in the local community? and in 2007 the building was refurbished and improved to We believe that businesses have an important role to play in accommodate the arrival of the merged company’s upstream supporting the communities where they operate. We have activities, which include exploration, development, seven Link Schools in the area, with which we work to production and gas marketing. promote the subjects of science, technology and maths. In Leatherhead we have also built a strong relationship with many 2. What were the reasons for the move? local charities by making donations and putting in teams of A decision was made to move out of Central London and a employees to help with various activities during our annual Days study took place to identify the best location. of Caring, from painting and decorating to conservation work. Page 6 I Essential Leatherhead Business We also encourage employees and their families to get This year, the Charity of the Year is the Leatherhead-based involved in volunteering in their own time, through a scheme Rainbow Trust, which provides support to families who have in which they can apply for grants to support the organisations a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. with which they choose to work. Examples include school governors, scout leaders and marathon runners. 5. Why did ExxonMobil decide to back the Leatherhead and District Business Awards? Anyone who has visited our site in Leatherhead will know We are committed to supporting the local communities that we take the safety of our staff and our neighbours very where we operate. ExxonMobil is one of the largest employers in the town and we have worked closely for many seriously. For a number of years now we have sponsored years with the co-hosts Mole Valley District Council and the Safe Drive Stay Alive, a hard-hitting stage show aimed at Leatherhead & District Chamber of Commerce. We are young drivers, which highlights the consequences of driving committed to the highest standards in our own operations dangerously. Organised by Surrey Fire and Rescue, it and so we were delighted to sponsor these awards, which includes a filmed reconstruction of a road traffic collision recognise excellence in local businesses. and personal accounts from those involved in the accident and its aftermath. The show aims to cut the number of young people killed or injured on our roads. Our employees also contribute to the local community by voting for a local Charity of the Year, and then raising money for that cause over 12 months through raffles, quizzes and a small levy on one-day sales here in ExxonMobil House. Last Did You Know? year, our staff raised more than £7,500 for the Surrey Over the last 125 years, ExxonMobil has evolved from a regional marketer of kerosene in the Community Development Trust, which provides support and U.S. to the largest publicly traded petroleum accommodation for more than 1,300 homeless and and petrochemical enterprise in the world. vulnerable people in Surrey. Essential Leatherhead Business I Page 7 03REASON GROWING AND DIVERSE ECONOMY Surrey boasts the largest and most diverse concentration in the UK of the world’s leading headquarters for knowledge industries, information technology, telecommunications, biotechnology and advanced engineering, outside London.