Claire’s Column – Guildford For Girls

Published on: 18 Sep, 2017
Updated on: 15 Sep, 2017

In this regular column – a must-read for all those interested in Guildford business – Claire Dee gives Guildford a big tick for girls!

Claire Dee.

I’ve been listening to BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour discussing its latest study researching the best place in Britain to be a woman.

Conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), eight key areas across 380 local authorities were analysed to create the findings. The indicators were income, housing affordability, personal wellbeing, safety, education, life expectancy, environment and culture.

East Dunbartonshire near Glasgow in Scotland came first, with nearby East Renfrewshire in second place and West Oxfordshire third. East Dunbartonshire scored well in almost all categories particularly education, personal wellbeing, income, and local environment.

And the least desirable places to live are the London borough of Islington, followed by Blackpool in Lancashire and Corby in Northamptonshire. Islington was bottom due to many poor scores most notably in personal wellbeing, crime and housing affordability.

So what about Guildford? I’m a businesswoman living here and, like many of my colleagues, I love it!

Overall, Guildford came out pretty well in 46th place. Our culture, wellbeing and environment received excellent marks, with life expectancy also doing very well. And safety, education and income are good. But Guildford’s housing affordability really let the town down ranked 343 out of 380. No surprises there…

Where you live and what you enjoy is very personal and therefore subjective. Despite the sophisticated number-crunching behind this study, it’s really down to the individual and their passions. While green spaces work for some, others prefer bustling streets and busy roads. Education may be key if you’ve got children, but income will rate higher if you’re career driven. Fundamentally, we all make choices based on what we do and don’t like. And for us ‘Guildfordians’, Guilford’s the place to be!

Click here to find out more about Woman’s Hour Report: The best places in Britain for women.

Claire Dee runs her own communications consultancy near Guildford and is an active member of the local business community including sitting on the Surrey Chambers of Commerce board and co-chairing the Business Women in Surrey group. To learn more visit www.clairedeecommunications.com