South East

The South East is the second most productive region of the UK after London. It is home to more than 8 million people and has a strong cultural heritage and major transport links, but it needs to continually improve its overall performance on education, skills and the environment to sustain its position internationally.

In the South East region, Business in the Community covers the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex. Its proximity to continental Europe makes the South East an attractive home for national and international companies requiring a highly skilled and mobile workforce, yet the region has significant pockets of deprivation and long-term unemployment, especially along the coastal fringe.