Chartered Surveyors Slough Berkshire

Approximate Population: 122,000

Before the 1800s, the main businesses of Slough were brickfields and agriculture. The bricks for the building of Eton College were made in Slough. Later, as the Great West Road traffic increased, inns and pubs sprang up along the road to service the passing trade. Until the town developed as an industrial area, nurseries were prominent in the local economy; Cox’s Orange Pippin apple was first raised in Colnbrook (not then within Slough) around 1825, and the dianthus “Mrs Sinkins Pink” was first raised at some point between 1868 and 1883 by John Sinkins, the master of the Eton Union Workhouse, which lay in Slough.

In the mid-1800s the only major employer apart from the brickfields was James Elliman, who started as a draper in Chandos Street. In 1847, he changed careers and manufactured his Elliman’s Embrocation and Royal Embrocation horse liniment from factories in Wellington Street and Chandos Street. Elliman became a major benefactor to the town, and is remembered today in the names of local roads and schools.

In September 1851 William Thomas Buckland, an auctioneer and surveyor from nearby Wraysbury, began livestock sales in a field near the Great Western Road Railway Station belonging to the North Star Inn. Originally held on the first Tuesday of every month, the Cattle Market’s popularity soon saw this increased to every Tuesday. A move to Wexham Street was necessitated by the post-war redevelopment of the town. The Slough Cattle Market was run by Messrs Buckland and Sons until its final closure in 1988.

In 1906, James Horlick, one of the founders of the eponymous malted milk company, opened a purpose-built red-brick factory near Slough Railway Station to manufacture his malted milk product.

Starting in the 1920s, Slough Estates Ltd, the operator of the original Slough Trading Estate, created and operated many more estates in the UK and abroad. The Slough Trading Estate meant that the town was largely insulated from many of the effects of recession. For many years, Slough’s economy was mainly manufacturing-based.

In the last 20 or so years there has been a major shift from a manufacturing to an information-based economy. This has seen the closing down of many factories (some of which have been in Slough for many decades). The factories are rapidly being replaced by office buildings. Hundreds of major companies have sited in Slough Trading Estate over the years, with its proximity to London Heathrow Airport and good motorway connections being attractive. In the 1960s Gerry Anderson’s film company was based in Slough, and his Supermarionation series, including Thunderbirds, were filmed there.