There’s a multiplicity of top companies who have made Preston their home. They include: BAE Systems, BNFL, Carphone Warehouse, Countrywide Assured, Homeserve, KPMG, Tetrad and Royal Mail.

The City’s thriving economy sustains:

• Strong service and high value added manufacturing sectors.
• The headquarters of Lancashire County Council are based in the City, along with the county’s crown courts and a wide range of regional offices of public agencies, banks, insurance and other professional bodies.
• Preston’s dynamic aerospace and high tech engineering industry demonstrates the status of the Lancashire region as the biggest centre of aerospace production excellence in the UK. Comprising around 140 companies and employing 30,000 highly skilled people, it ranks alongside other world-class centres like Seattle in the USA or Toulouse in France.
• Due to its excellent choice of quality, affordable sites next to the motorways, Preston is a prime choice for distribution companies. Recent moves include the development of new distribution centres next to the M6 for the supermarket chain E.H. Booth and James Hall, to service the company's Spar outlets throughout the NW Region.  
• Other recent investment includes two state-of-the-art communication centres by Homeserve plc and the UK's second largest phone company, Carphone Warehouse, who have aquired the 340,000 sq ft Tulketh Mill in Ashton for a contact centre which could ultimately employ 1,500.
• The Lancashire region has high levels of indigenous business ownership (nine out of ten businesses are owned either locally or in the wider North West) and in many businesses, supply chains are localised (53% of businesses source their materials exclusively from within Lancashire).
• In terms of productivity, Preston’s GVA has grown by 40% since 1990.  Total GVA was estimated at £2.6billion in 2004 and information suggests a further positive trend in GVA growth rate and impact, given the shift towards a knowledge driven economy. 
• Since 1998 there has been strong  employment growth of almost 10% in Preston, compared to 8.5% in NW Region. (ONS - Annual Business Inquiry 2004) 
• Between 1998 and 2004 there was significant sectoral  employment growth in: construction (+68%), hotels and restaurants (+47%), education (+39%), public administration & defence (+34%) and other business services (+21%). ONS - Annual Business Inquiry 2004) 
• Preston is anticipated to achieve well above average employment growth over the next 10 years.

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