Milton Keynes, ENG - Postcode - MK3 6LS

Milton Keynes, England

About 50 miles (80 km) north-west of London, Milton Keynes is the main settlement in the English county of Buckinghamshire. The urban area had a population of over 256,000 as of the 2021 Census. It is bounded to the north by the Great Ouse River, and to the south by the River Ouzel, a tributary that winds through the area's linear parks and balancing lakes. Nearly a quarter of the city is made up of parks and woods, and it's home to two S.P.C.I.s (SSSIs).

There is a 30,500-seat football stadium, an indoor ski-slope, and an open-air concert venue that can hold 65,000 people, in addition to a 1,400-seat theater, a municipal art gallery, two multiplex cinemas, an ecumenical central church, a 400-seat concert hall, a teaching hospital, and a number of other facilities. The city of Milton Keynes is served by seven different train stations (one inter-city). Both the Open University and the University of Bedfordshire have their main campuses in this area. Professional teams include Formula One's Red Bull Racing, English soccer's MK Dons, and ice hockey's Milton Keynes Lightning, while the city boasts amateur teams in nearly every major sport. Overlooking Willen Lake, the Peace Pagoda was the continent's first structure of its kind. The Concrete Cows at Milton Keynes Museum are only one of many famous public sculptures.

Based on a variety of metrics, Milton Keynes consistently performs among the best of the UK's metropolitan areas in terms of economic output. It ranks eighth in the United Kingdom for business startups per resident (but equally of business failures). Several prominent domestic and international corporations have their headquarters there. Some people's economic and personal success has led to widespread affluence, yet there are also areas of the country where people are well below the poverty line. About 90% of workers are employed in service industries, while only 9% are in manufacturing.

Geography

Approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the north-west of London, Milton Keynes is located in south-central England. Northampton, Bedford, Luton, and Aylesbury are the nearest major cities. Coventry, Leicester, Cambridge, London, and Oxford are the nearest major cities.

Oxford clay predominates the landscape here, with gentle rolling hills and precipitous streams draining into the [Great] Ouse and Ouzel flood basins from slopes cut predominantly in Oxford clay. The northern plains that surround the Ouse valley are dominated by Middle Jurassic rocks, in particular the Blisworth limestone and cornbrash. Its central peak is 110 meters (360 feet) high, while Woodhill, on the western border, is even higher (120 m, 390 ft). Newport Pagnell, where the Ouzel flows into the Great Ouse, is the city's lowest point (50 m, 160 ft).

Economy

Gross value added per worker placed Milton Keynes third among the 63 major UK conurbations in both 2014 and 2017. It dropped to eighth place in 2020. As one of the top five cities in the United Kingdom, Milton Keynes has above-average economic growth. Based on a list of 63 business-startup rankings in 2020, it came in at #6.

To name just a few, Argos, Domino's Pizza, Marshall Amplification, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, Volkswagen Group, Red Bull Racing, Network Rail, and Volkswagen Group are just few of the well-known national and international businesses that call Milton Keynes home.

In 2013, small and medium-sized firms made up 99.4 percent of all businesses. Only 0.6% of local businesses employed more than 250 people (but more than one third of employees), while 81.5% employed ten or fewer. The highest percentage of businesses (16.7%) are from the "professional, scientific, and technical sector." Jobs are most numerous in the retail industry. When compared to other English cities, Milton Keynes has a high rate of both new business creation and business failure. In comparison to the rest of England and the South East, education, healthcare, and public administration do not contribute as much to employment in the region.

75.1% of the population engages in some form of economic activity, with 8.3% of those people operating their own businesses. Ninety percent of the labor force is employed in service industries (wholesale and retail make up the greatest portion).

While nine of Milton Keynes' neighborhoods were among the 10% most impoverished in England, another 12 were among the least. Local charity The Community Foundation (in its 2016 'Vital Signs' report) described the situation as a 'Tale of Two Cities' due to the disparity between wealthy and impoverished neighborhoods despite a strong local economy.

In 2018, the issue of young people experiencing homelessness due to factors such as low wages, lack of access to mental health services, and the high cost of housing made national news.