Cheltenham borough had 118,836 residents at the 2021 Census,[1] up 2.7% from around 115,700 in 2011.[2] As well as the town centre, the borough takes in the parishes of Charlton Kings, Prestbury, Leckhampton with Warden Hill, Up Hatherley and Swindon, while the town’s GL51, GL52 and GL53 postcodes stretch into neighbouring Tewkesbury and Cotswold districts.[12] The centre is not one high street but a set of distinct quarters: the tree-lined Regency Promenade with Imperial Gardens, independent Montpellier, the Suffolks, Bath Road, Tivoli and the Brewery Quarter,[10] with more than 200 stores between them.[11] Customers search with those names, and a Cheltenham business needs to be found for them.
GCHQ came to Cheltenham in the 1950s, opening its Oakley site in 1952, and has worked from its headquarters at Benhall, known as the Doughnut, since 2003.[6] Next to it, the council-backed Golden Valley development is a £1bn cyber and technology campus,[5] expected to bring up to 12,000 jobs and over 2,500 homes.[4] The borough’s job mix reflects this: information and communication accounts for 7.5% of employee jobs, against 4.7% across England, and professional, scientific and technical work for 11.9%, against 9.7%. Accommodation and food (9.0%) and retail (10.4%) are also above the national share.[3] Those visitor jobs lean on a packed calendar: Cheltenham Festivals runs four festivals in jazz, science, music and literature,[7] and the racecourse, which calls itself the home of jump racing, holds the Cheltenham Festival every March.[8]
Places customers search around
- The Promenade and Imperial Gardens
- Montpellier and Montpellier Gardens
- Pittville Pump Room
- Cheltenham Town Hall
- The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum
- Cheltenham Racecourse
- GCHQ (the Doughnut)
- Golden Valley development
- University of Gloucestershire (Park and Francis Close Hall campuses)
- Cheltenham Spa station
Cyber, tech and professional services
Software, cyber security and consultancy firms around GCHQ and the coming Golden Valley campus,[5] in a borough with an above-average share of information and communication and professional jobs.[3] Their clients shortlist suppliers on Google and in AI tools.
Hospitality and the festival trade
Hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés that fill up for race week and the jazz, science, music and literature festivals,[7][8] alongside Regency venues such as Pittville Pump Room and Cheltenham Town Hall, run by The Cheltenham Trust.[9] Accommodation and food is a bigger share of jobs here than nationally.[3]
Independent shops and retail
Boutiques, galleries and specialist shops across the Promenade, Montpellier, the Suffolks and Tivoli,[10] competing with national chains on the same streets. Retail accounts for 10.4% of the borough’s employee jobs.[3]
Health, legal and home services
Clinics, dentists, solicitors, accountants and trades serving a borough of almost 119,000 people,[1] where health is the borough’s largest employer by share of jobs.[3]
