Bournemouth - Economy

Economy

Similarly to the rest of Dorset, Bournemouth's economy is primarily in the service sector, which employed 93% of the workforce in 2007. This is 10% higher than the average employment in the service sector for Great Britain and the South West. The importance of the manufacturing sector has declined, and is predominantly based in neighbouring Poole, but still employs 3% of the workforce. Tourism is crucial to the economy of Bournemouth, generating £440 million a year and employing thousands of workers. Business tourism alone contributed £127 million in 2007, through delegates and business visitors attending venues such as the Bournemouth International Centre and exhibitions in the town.

The following is a non-exhaustive list:

• Palmair - Its head office is in the Space House in Bournemouth
• JPMorgan - Employs around 10,000 people
• Portman Building Society - now part of Nationwide Building Society
• Unisys group, the office for UISL
• Parvalux - the UK's largest fractional horsepower motor manufacturer has its headquarters in Wallisdown
• Fitness First was started in Bournemouth and its headquarters are in the neighbouring town of Poole
• McCarthy & Stone
• Liverpool Victoria formerly Frizzell Insurance
• RIAS Insurance company has its headquarters in Bournemouth
• Bournemouth Borough Council is one of the largest employers in the area.
• PruHealth has a large office in Bournemouth
• Lloyds TSB Insurance has its call centre in Bournemouth, formerly Abbey Life
• Imagine Publishing a modern consumer specialist magazine company is based on Richmond Hill

In April 2008, Bournemouth was announced to be the first 'Fibrecity' in the United Kingdom, with work starting in September to bring 100 Mbit Broadband internet access into homes and businesses within the town; running fibre optic cables through the sewers reducing the cost and disruption to road networks during cable laying. This is in line with the Conservative Party's plans for most of the UK to have access to 100 Mbit Broadband. In early October 2010 work ground to a halt, and it later emerged in April 2011 that Fibrecity Holdings had stopped services since February 2011 due to legal problems involving its financiers. CityFibre Holdings acquired the network shortly afterwards and are continuing the service and expansion of the network into the BH10 and BH11 areas through 2012.

The main shopping streets in the centre of town are just behind the seafront on either side of the River Bourne (also known as the Bourne Stream); footpaths lead down to the sea from the Square through the lower section of Bournemouth Central Gardens.

The shopping streets are mostly pedestrianised and lined with a wide range of boutiques, stores, jewellers and accessory shops. There are modern shopping malls, Victorian arcades (including the Victorian Arcade between Westover Road and Old Christchurch Road), and a large selection of bars, clubs and cafés. About a mile to the west of the town centre, in the district of Westbourne, there is a selection of designer clothing and interior design shops. About a mile to the east, in the district of Boscombe, there is another major shopping area including many antiques shops and a street market. North of the centre there is an out-of-town shopping complex called Castlepoint Shopping Centre with supermarkets, DIY stores and larger versions of high street shops. A new extension to Castlepoint, called Castlemore, is set just south west of the main complex, which features more large retail stores. Other supermarkets are located in the town centre (Asda and Co-op), Boscombe (Sainsbury's) and between Westbourne and Upper Parkstone. A large Tesco Extra store is located in Castle Lane East.