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The Gatwick Diamond is a name invented as a brand for a loosely defined economic area that surrounds Gatwick Airport, some 30 miles south of London.
The area stretches from the edge of London and the North Downs in the north to the edge of Brighton and the South Downs in the south, and from Horsham in the west to East Grinstead in the east. It benefits from two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: the Surrey Hills and the South Downs National Park. It has an area of some 400 square miles and a population of 680,000; its economy generates £20.7bn GDP. 12 million people live within one hour's drive. There are 406,000 economically active people in the Gatwick Diamond; 81% of the working age population is economically active. 74% of Gatwick Diamond workers are residents (annual population survey 2011). The unemployment level is very low at 1.4%. The Gatwick Diamond is home to 45,000 businesses including many UK and European Headquarters. Some of these companies are: Unilever, Exxon Mobil, Toyota, Doosan, Thales Group, Varian Medical Systems, Elekta, Nestle, EDF Energy, Edwards Vacuum, Canon Inc. and G4S. It also contains the Manor Royal Business Park – the largest business park in the UK, [1] housing 550 businesses and employing around 35,000 people.
The Gatwick Diamond Initiative is a business-led private/public partnership that was established in April 2003 to improve the economic performance of the area. [2] It now includes seven local borough/district councils (Horsham, Crawley, Mid Sussex, Tandridge, Reigate & Banstead, Mole Valley and Epsom & Ewell) and two county councils (West Sussex and Surrey), as well as a range of private sector partners.
One of its first actions was to arrange a meeting of the principal stakeholders (both public and private sector) to determine what actions could be taken to improve the economic performance of the area. Business leaders considered that the first priority should be to give the area an image and identity. The Initiative therefore launched the "Gatwick Diamond" on 15 July 2004. Since then the term "Gatwick Diamond" has achieved widespread recognition and acceptance. It was first referred to in parliament by Nicholas Soames, MP for Mid Sussex, on 13 Jun 2006. [3] The Gatwick Diamond Initiative lobbies government and the public sector on issues that prevent businesses in the area from growing; they encourage international trade; promote, attract and help UK and foreign inward investors looking to locate in the area; campaign on issues such as Air Passenger Duty, Gatwick's second runway and the Gatwick Express; and encourage the three Further Education colleges at Redhill, Crawley and Epsom to work together with the University of Brighton and University for the Creative Arts to provide Higher and Further Education to meet business needs.
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The Gatwick Diamond area is situated directly south of London and covers the east of Surrey and northwest of Sussex. The heart of the area is 30 miles from Central London. By rail, the Gatwick Express can get to Central London in 30 minutes. Gatwick Airport is situated at the centre of the Gatwick Diamond and is a nominal 1 hour's drive from Heathrow Airport, subject to frequent delays on the M25. The Gatwick Diamond is within 1 hour from the sea ports of Shoreham and Newhaven and 90 minutes from Dover, Southampton and Portsmouth sea ports. By road, the M23 bisects the Gatwick Diamond and is just 10 minutes from the M25. By bus, the Metrobus Fastway service takes many employees in the Gatwick Diamond to their workplace; coaches leave Gatwick to reach 400 UK towns and cities. The Gatwick Diamond is an economic area worth £20.7bn GDP (growing at 3% per year), with a population of 680,000.
Gatwick Airport has 48 airlines which fly to 200 destinations, more than any other UK airport. The airport connects to 45 out of 50 top European destinations and over half of the world’s emerging markets. In 2014, the airport had 38.6 million passengers pass through it. This contributes towards Gatwick being the busiest single-runway airport in the world. The airport's railway station was used by 18 million passengers in 2015-16, [4] making it the busiest airport station in the UK.
Gatwick Diamond Business have supported the Gatwick Diamond Business community for over 70 years. They are proud of our independence, they are owned and run by their members, for their members.
Their mission is to help you achieve your ambitions by being part of their business community - connecting, supporting, promoting, informing and boosting you and your business. Like all businesses, they cannot stand still – they build on their strengths. One of the ways they are doing this is by giving you more choice and flexibility to tailor your membership to meet your particular needs.
So, they have now introduced new options which give you the opportunity to get more from your membership. Their Diamond option, available exclusively to members with no more than 100 employees, includes all the benefits members have come to expect from them. However, all members, regardless of size, can now opt for one of three further options with inclusive benefits that offer great additional value. These are their Diamond Plus, Diamond Premium and Diamond Business Champion membership options.
They aim is to ensure that all members get the very best from the opportunities that the Gatwick Diamond Business community offers. They would be delighted to discuss which option would be the perfect fit for you.” They also delivers the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards.
Surrey is a county in South East England which borders Kent to the east, East Sussex to the southeast, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west, Berkshire to the northwest, and Greater London to the northeast. With about 1.2 million people, Surrey is the 12th-most populous English county, the third-most populous home county, after Kent and Essex, and the third-most populous in the Southeast, after Hampshire and Kent.
Crawley is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is 28 miles (45 km) south of London, 18 miles (29 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 32 miles (51 km) north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of 17.36 square miles (44.96 km2) and had a population of 106,597 at the time of the 2011 Census.
Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Reigate, Redhill, Horley and Banstead. The borough borders the Borough of Crawley to the south, the Borough of Epsom and Ewell and District of Mole Valley to the west, Tandridge District to the east and the London Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon to the north.
Mid Sussex is a local government district in the English non-metropolitan county of West Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex. It contains the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, approximately 13.5 mi (21.7 km) south of Charing Cross and 4.75 mi (7.64 km) northeast of Leatherhead. The town is recorded as Ebbesham in the 13th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. Founded as a spring line settlement where the permeable chalk of the North Downs meets the impermeable London Clay, Epsom developed as a spa town in the Georgian period. The mineral waters were found to be rich in magnesium sulphate, which became known as Epsom salts.
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937. The district was considered for inclusion in Greater London in 1965 but was left unaltered by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. However, despite being outside modern Greater London the borough was in the Metropolitan Police District until it was transferred to Surrey Police in 2000. In the May 2019 elections, the borough was held by the Epsom and Ewell Residents Association with 32 seats, Labour with 3 seats, Liberal Democrats with 2 seats, and Conservatives with 1 seat.
The Brighton main line is a major railway line in the United Kingdom that links Brighton, on the south coast of England, with central London. In London the line has two branches, out of London Victoria and London Bridge stations respectively, which join up in Croydon and continue towards Brighton as one line. The line is electrified throughout using the third rail system.
Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. With fast links by train throughout the day to London from Horley railway station, it qualifies as a commuter town and has a significant economy of its own, including business parks and a relatively long high street.
The Sutton and Mole Valley lines were constructed between 1847 and 1868 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the LBSCR-sponsored Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway.
Redhill railway station serves the town of Redhill, Surrey, England. The station is a major interchange point on the Brighton Main Line, 22 miles 40 chains (36.2 km) measured from London Charing Cross. It is managed by Southern, and is also served by Thameslink and GWR.
Tattenham Corner is a neighbourhood in north Surrey, UK, but the name is principally associated with Epsom Racecourse. It is in the Tattenhams ward of Reigate and Banstead Borough.
The A217 is a road in London and Surrey in England. It runs north/south. It runs from Kings Road in Fulham, London, crosses the Thames at Wandsworth Bridge, then passes through Wandsworth, Earlsfield, Summerstown, Tooting, Mitcham, Rosehill and Sutton Common in Sutton, then Cheam. Then, widened as a dual carriageway, comes Belmont, a suburban district built on a slope rising southward. On the North Downs in Surrey the road then skirts past Banstead and through its late 19th century offspring villages particularly Burgh Heath and Kingswood, Surrey. It then crosses the M25 motorway at Junction 8, then, returning to single carriageways, passes through the castle town of Reigate. It then cuts through the green buffer farmland of two rural villages and terminates at the road network at Gatwick Airport's northern perimeter.
Nork is a residential area of the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey and borders Greater London, England. Nork is separated from its post town Banstead only by the A217 dual carriageway, and the built-up area is also contiguous with similar parts of Tattenham Corner and Burgh Heath. A thin belt of more open land separates it from the communities to the north: Epsom, Ewell, Cheam and Belmont. There are two parades of shops, one called the Driftbridge and another at the north-eastern end of Nork Way, the street which runs centrally through the residential area. Nork lies on chalk near the top of the gentle north-facing slope of the North Downs, 175 m (575 ft) above sea level at its highest point.
Dorking railway station is one of three stations that serve the town of Dorking in Surrey, England. It is 22 miles 8 chains (35.6 km) down the line from London Waterloo. It is within walking distance of Dorking Deepdene station and interchange on a through ticket is permitted. Dorking West and Dorking Deepdene are on the North Downs Line.
The Charlwood and Horley Act 1974 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that amended the Local Government Act 1972 to move the villages of Charlwood and Horley from West Sussex to Surrey.
The RH postcode area, also known as the Redhill postcode area, is a group of twenty postcode districts in South East England, within seventeen post towns. These cover east Surrey and northeastern West Sussex plus small parts of northwestern East Sussex.
Reigate was a hundred in what is now Surrey, England. It was geographically consonant with the southern two thirds of Borough of Reigate and Banstead together with two parishes in Tandridge and fractions of former parishes in the London Borough of Croydon and Borough of Crawley, West Sussex. Accordingly, it included the medieval-established town of Reigate with its motte castle and land which become the towns of Redhill and Horley.
Lowfield Heath is a former village within the boundaries of the Borough of Crawley, West Sussex, England. Situated on the main London to Brighton road approximately 27 miles (43 km) south of London and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Crawley, it was gradually rendered uninhabitable by the expansion of London Gatwick Airport immediately to the north.
The Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway (HDLR) was an early railway company in southern England. It completed earlier plans for a line through the Mole Valley, joining several important towns across the North Downs. It was promoted and later acquired by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and became an essential part of the route later known as the Portsmouth Line.