The latest edition of LSH’s annual ‘UK Vitality Index’ reveals Oxford has moved up an impressive eight spaces from 16 to take its place in the top 10 of destinations best placed to support economic expansion over the next 12 months.

Unsurprisingly, Oxford consistently performs well in the most highly educated category, and this year saw it improve to draw level with Cambridge in joint third position. Boding well for the future, it also entered the top ten fastest growing list for the first time.

David Gilbert, Head of Office for Lambert Smith Hampton, Oxford, explains: “Oxford is an internationally renowned city and an established centre for research and development, high performance engineering, biotechnology and other knowledge and science based industries.

“As a significant retail centre, Oxford has performed well, and the highlight in the future will be the redevelopment of the Westgate Shopping Centre in the city centre, which will include 100 new shops plus residential and leisure space and is expected to create 3,400 new jobs.

“Oxford’s future is bright!”

The top 10 towns and cities in the 2015 UK Vitality Index are:
1.            Guildford
2.            Cambridge
3.            Brighton
4.            Reading
5.            Warwick
6.            St Albans
7.            Milton Keynes
8.            Oxford
9.            Edinburgh
10.          York

READ FULL VITALITY INDEX HERE

Data calculation
The ‘UK Vitality Index’ assesses the UK’s largest towns and cities outside London to provide a health check, identifying which have the most robust economies, are best positioned to support growth and will provide the greatest opportunities for businesses to expand.

The results are based on the analysis of 20 datasets, with each city ranked within six separate categories: most productive, fastest growing, most entrepreneurial, best educated, greenest and most affluent.