Economic Development
Employment Areas
Currently Stowmarket has 3 major industrial areas - the Tomo Industrial Estate, The Charles Industrial Estate and the Stowmarket Business Park, along with an industrial sector clustered along the banks of the River Gipping. Mid Suffolk District Council has allocated more employment land at Mill Lane and Chilton Leys to provide a range of jobs to match the future growth of the town. Current vacant properties in and around the town can be found at www.investinsuffolk.com.
The seven largest employers in Stowmarket each employ over 200 people and around 340 people are employed in the tourism sector. Stowmarket traditionally has a very low rate of unemployment which is always below the county average and has a range of skilled residents, especially in the engineering, food production and logistics sectors. West Suffolk College has a Learning Centre in town.
See details of employment in the Local Businesses page of this website.
Stowmarket & District Chamber of Commerce is a long-established and pro-active organisation, whose principal aims are to create and exploit business opportunities in the area, to encourage employment and wealth creation and to contribute to enhancement of the area as a good place in which to do business.
Population Growth Forecasts
| Population | 2001 | 2007 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 |
Stowmarket | 15,248 | 17,936 | 19,080 | 20,520 | 21,720 |
10 mile radius | 54,509 | 56,882 | 57,900 | 59,770 | 60,450 |
Total | 69,757 | 74,818 | 76,980 | 80,290 | 82,170 |
New investment in the town
Currently Stowmarket is seeing a significant amount of public and private sector investment in the town. Over £37m has recently been spent on projects such as
- £7.2m new town centre Supermarket
- £5m youth hub called The Mix
- £21m construction of B1115 relief road bridge connection Cedars Park to the Town Centre
- £2.8m development of the Museum of East Anglian Life
- £1m redevelopment of the Corn Exchange into the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts
Future Improvements to Stowmarket
- New Bus station at the Railway station
- Enhanced cycle facilities in and around the town
- Better signage to and around the town centre
- More employment land for businesses
- Increase use of public transport into and around Stowmarket
Stowmarket is a growing community that cares about family values
