Slough named best place to work in the UK

Berkshire town tops list for third year running

Last laugh? ‘The Office’ did Slough no favours (Alamy)

Slough has been named the best place to work in the UK for the third year running in an annual report.

Each year, employment website Glassdoor lists the country’s best towns or cities to find jobs, based on the number of available opportunities, the cost of living, average wages and job satisfaction.

The Berkshire town was chosen thanks to its large number of job vacancies and above-average wages.

Figures compiled by the website reveal that Slough had 23,387 job openings in the last year with an average job satisfaction rating of 3.4 out of 5

Meanwhile, the median average salary was £30,139 per annum.

Several multinational companies, including Telefonica, AkzoNobel and Reckitt Benckiser, have offices in the town.

It is also the setting for mockumentary sitcom The Office and the subject of an excoriating poem by John Betjeman.

Cambridge, Gloucester, Guildford and Reading took places two to five on the list, all praised for the number of job vacancies and the average cost of living.

Glassdoor's economic research analyst Amanda Stansell said: “Our latest report shows that companies are continuing to look outside of the big cities to set up offices and recruit local talent, in part driven by ever-improving access, favourable rents and salaries.

“The growth in flexible working also means employees are no longer spending every day, 9-5, in the office, meaning the location of the company is less important than it once was.

“Companies can get away with not having offices in the larger, expensive cities – like London – as employees are prioritising flexibility and convenience over the prestige of an office address.”