Why Fareham is a great place to live and work

Located between Portsmouth and Southampton, Fareham offers an exceptional combination of business opportunity, skilled talent, connectivity and quality of life. As home to Daedalus, one of the South Coast's leading business destinations, the area attracts employers, entrepreneurs and professionals from across Hampshire and the Solent region.

Benefiting from its rich heritage as a market town, Fareham is well-placed for a range of leisure activities for residents and visitors. It enjoys an enviable location with the seafront to the south and open countryside to the north and there are many parks and community spaces.

The 2021 Census estimates that there are 114,500 people living in Fareham across 48,600 households. Fareham exhibits a strong and diverse economy with a high employment rate with 86.0% of those aged 16-64 being employed. Unemployment is lower than the national average and the South East region as a whole.

We have a significant number of businesses, particularly in professional, technical, and construction sectors, with notable business growth and a substantial number of scaleups.

Fareham is a premier location for aviation, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing businesses in the south, many of which calling Daedalus home. Fareham is also home to world class organisations such as the Office of National Statistics, CooperVision, Meggit, the National Air Traffic Control Centre, EATON and Bristow Helicopters.

Seven of the top ten global aerospace companies have staked their claim in the Solent region attracting employees with all the key skills but without the cost of London-weighted salaries.

Home to more than 25 marinas, a world-renowned University, the Southampton Boat Show and the historic Portsmouth Dockyard, Hampshire is a natural home for the marine sector and contains more than 3,000 marine and maritime companies.

Manufacturing is also vital to the area and represents almost 13% of all jobs - that's 2% above the national average. There are over 14,000 manufacturing jobs in machine manufacturing and engineering activities.

You can find out more about the changing profile of the region at ONS - How Fareham compares with the South East and Great Britain across employment-related statistics