GRM, Laurus House, First Avenue, Centrum 100, Burton upon Trent, Staffs, DE14 2WH
Tel: 01283 551249
Email: info@grm-uk.com
GRM, Anson House, Compass Point Business Park, Northampton Road, Market Harborough, Leics, LE16 9HW
Tel: 01858 414981
Email: info@grm-uk.com
While you may be looking forward to an exciting new career at GRM, there are often other people to consider when relocating to a new area. Market Harborough offers a range of business and employment opportunities for your partner and family.
Take a look at www.marketharboroughonline.co.uk for information on finding jobs in the Market Harborough area. This website offers useful information and links including local situations vacant, links to national job vacancy sites, as well as CV and interview advice.
www.localrecruit.co.uk is another good one-stop shop if you're searching for a job in the area - it lists jobs in and around Market Harborough by industry, advertised through a number of different specialist agencies or recruitment websites.
If your partner or a family member runs their own business, or is looking to start up in business, Market Harborough has a strong support network. Local networking and business support groups include Breakfast for Business (see www.thebestof.co.uk for details and contact information), or Market Harborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce (follow this link www.harborough.gov.uk for contact details).
There's a strong community spirit in Market Harborough, with a large number of charities and community groups who would welcome your involvement. www.harboroughonline.co.uk gives a comprehensive list of charities and community groups in the area, with contact details and links to their websites.
If religion is a large part of your life, then it's important to know about the religious community in a place you're considering relocating to. www.harboroughonline.co.uk lists most of the local churches and religious community groups of various denominations in and around Market Harborough, with contact details and website links where possible.
For details of the nearest Mosques and Synagogues, look at: www.thebestof.co.uk
There are many childcare options for children under school age, from nannies, to nurseries, or crèches and playgroups. Market Harborough offers a varied choice of childcare providers, so no matter what your needs or criteria you're sure to find something that both you and your children will be happy with.
First of all, you have to make the decision about what kind of childcare you're looking for - www.direct.gov.uk gives information that will help you to decide - there are sections on how to go about choosing childcare, as well as the types of benefits and help available. The Leicestershire County Council's Early Years and Childcare Service also offer useful information for parents, specific to the Leicestershire area. See www.leics.gov.uk to find out the types of provision offered, what funding is available, and what the service do.
Once you know what you're looking for, you need to know details of childcare providers in the Market Harborough area. There are a couple of websites that will help you with this:
Choosing your child's school is a very important decision, especially if you've recently moved to a new area. Fortunately, there is a lot of information available to parents on how to go about choosing a school, and applying for a place. www.direct.gov.uk gives useful information about how to choose a school, types of school, admissions criteria, test results and Ofsted reports.
You can also download interesting guides to education in Leicestershire published by the Leicestershire County Council, which give information about the education services offered within the county, what your child is entitled to, admissions information, special education needs, and much more:
Because of its geographical location, schools in the Market Harborough area can fall under a number of different local authorities. However, you can find a comprehensive list via the direct.gov.uk's schools finder service. This lists schools by distance from Market Harborough, and gives information about the type of school, its local authority, and, for secondary, whether it has sixth form provisions. Clicking on the school's name brings up further detailed information including contact details and links to Ofsted reports.
To help you to in your decision, all Ofsted reports are available to read at www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/ including child-minders, day care providers, primary and secondary schools, and further education.
There are a couple of options for Further Education available to students in the area -many of the secondary schools offer sixth form facilities (see schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk for a list of the schools with sixth forms).
Alternatively, there are a number of colleges to choose from within commuting distance:
For Higher Education both after school and for mature students, there is a choice of universities within reach of Market Harborough, each offering a different range of courses and specialist areas. Have a look at their websites for a list of faculties and departments, course information and prospectuses:
Located on the border between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, Market Harborough is just 15 minutes from the M1's quick and easy links to Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Milton Keynes and London.
The town itself located on the A508, which takes you direct to Northampton; and just off the A6, which again provides an easy route to Leicester and Kettering.
Follow this link for a list of local taxi firms: www.britinfo.net.
A good general travel website can be found at www.transportdirect.co.uk.
For national and international travel, there's a choice of airports close by:
Nottingham East Midlands airport is a 45 minute drive, while Birmingham and Luton Airports are each around an hour away.Market Harborough's railway station is located on St Mary's Road - just a short walk from the town centre. It is managed by Midland Mainline, whose services run from Sheffield to London, and stop at Market Harborough. You can catch a Midland Mainline train direct to:
Visit the Midland Mainline website for timetable and ticket information www.midlandmainline.com/.
Look at www.nationalrail.co.uk for timetable and ticket information from to and from anywhere in the UK.
There are a number of bus operators in the area, who run services both locally and further afield. The following link www.leicestershire.gov.uk opens a pdf of a Market Harborough bus map and guide, produced by Leicestershire County Council. It shows the bus routes and stops around the town, operator details, as well as additional information and useful contacts.
www.traveline.org.uk is a useful website for travel in general and provides information about buses, trains and coach travel. Simply enter your start and destination details, date and time of travel, and it will come up with a number of options.
Traveline East Midlands also provides timetables online - just follow this link to go directly to the timetable page: http://212.188.131.251/scripts/webtriplanner.dll/timetables
Daily essentials
There are four major supermarkets in the town centre - the small Tesco Metro is located in The Square and is handy for everyday bits and bobs. Sainsburys in St Mary's Place is bigger, and right in the centre of town. The Co-op on Coventry Road and Kwik Save on Northampton Road are larger still, and are both within easy reach. Just slightly further out of town you can find cut price supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl.
If you enjoy keeping fit, there's plenty to do in Market Harborough.
The town's leisure centre provides a range of facilities and activities to suit all ages, interests and abilities. On Northampton Road, Harborough Leisure Centre has three pools (including flume and water features), a health suite, fitness studio, solarium, sports hall, as well as tennis courts, a bowls hall, table tennis, martial arts facilities and a crèche. For further information including a full list of facilities, opening times, prices, and directions, visit www.harboroughleisurecentre.com/
Other gyms in the town include:
Market Harborough has a variety of sporting clubs and societies. Follow this link www.harboroughonline.co.uk for a comprehensive list of sports and recreational clubs in the area. It includes contact details and links to websites where available.
When the weather permits, the beautiful Welland Park offers a range of activities - with tennis courts, bowling green, bowls pavilion, skate park, putting green, and crazy golf. See www.bigfern.btinternet.co.uk/wpark.htm for more details about the facilities available at Welland Park.
There are two golf courses to choose from in Market Harborough:
If you're willing to travel for your game, www.touristnetuk.com lists all the golf clubs in Leicestershire and Rutland.
For motor sport fans, Rockingham racetrack is within easy reach to the west of the town. As well as offering car and bike track days, Rockingham plays host to the British Touring Car Championship. Take a look at their website for more details www.rockingham.co.uk of events and facilities.
There is plenty to do in and around Market Harborough, without travelling too far. To begin with, why not have a better look at the surrounding area with an open top tour? These popular tourist buses run throughout July and August, and show key attractions as well as the beautiful countryside. They give you a good introduction to the area and you might spot somewhere that you want to go back and visit at a later date. The Harborough-Rockingham tour covers the Market Harborough area, but there are many others you may like to try too, so that you can really get to know the county. Have a look at www.goleicestershire.com for details of all the tours on offer, as well as prices and operating dates.
In and around the town itself, there are several scenic walks that you may like to enjoy. These include the towpath of the Grand Union Canal starting at the Basin, the Millenium Mile Walk along the river Welland, and the Brampton Valley Way along the disused railway line off Northampton Road.
Welland Park is a lovely place to spend a sunny day, and with numerous attractions including a nature trail, tennis courts and skate park, there's something to keep everyone amused. See www.bigfern.btinternet.co.uk/wpark.htm for a map of the park, and details of all it has to offer.
Slightly further out of the town, Foxton Locks and Foxton Canal Museum are both worth a visit. Foxton Locks (www.foxtonboats.co.uk) is an historic flight of ten locks on the Grand Union Canal, which takes the canal down seventy-five feet, and takes about forty-five minutes. The Foxton Canal Museum is run by the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust (www.fipt.org.uk), who are raising money to restore the inclined plane that was dismantled in 1928. The museum is a tourist attraction in its own right, with a unique collection of canal memorabilia and working models.
For a day out with a difference, Grange Farm gives you the chance to ride a real Argentinean Criollo horse through some of Leicestershire's most beautiful countryside. They're ridden authentically - western style with full western tack. Investigate www.harborough.gov.uk for contact details.
Wistow Maze is another enjoyable attraction, which offers something a bit different for the family to do. A previous winner of Leicestershire's 'Best Visitor Attraction' award, this giant maze attracted 17,000 visitors in eight weeks in 2006. It's a fun quiz trail set in eight acres of living maize and sunflowers. There are viewing towers from which you can enjoy breathtaking panoramic views. For more details, visit their website at www.wistow.com. It is situated opposite the Wistow Rural Centre, which has tearooms, a garden centre, model village, aquatic centre and a variety of shops.
Rockingham Castle was built under the instruction of William the Conqueror almost a thousand years ago; this beautiful castle has been, and still is, a family home. The castle is open to the public and as well as being fascinating to look round, they also host some great events and fairs throughout the year - such as open-air Shakespeare, jousting displays, and country fairs. The castle has won numerous tourism awards and it's certainly worth a visit. Take a look at their website to see what Rockingham Castle has to offer, and what events are planned for the coming year www.rockinghamcastle.com/.
Not far from Market Harborough, and a great place for a day out, is Rutland Water. One of the largest man-made reservoirs in the country, it is situated in England's smallest county. As well as being a beautiful, peaceful location, it also offers activities such as watersports, fishing, birdwatching, walking, cycling, play areas, butterfly and aquatic centre, restaurants and much more. Have a look at the Anglian Water website www.anglianwaterleisure.co.uk for details of all the facilities, activities and events at Rutland Water.
Practical needs
There are a number of furniture retailers in the town centre, including Charmwood Pine Furniture on Church Street, Harborough Bedding Centre on Goward Street, and The Furniture Barn on Rockingham Road.
Several national DIY chains have stores in and around Market Harborough - Homebase is situated on Springfield Street, Wickes on the Euro Business Park, and there's a B&Q supercentre just ten miles away in Wigston. Also worth a mention is Frank Gilberts in the High Street -a popular hardware shop.
Retail Therapy
Market Harborough is a great place for shopping - well known high street stores such as Boots, Argos, Woolworths and Dorothy Perkins sit side-by-side with smaller independent retailers - fashion boutiques, gift shops, and antiques shops. Those with a taste for designer labels will enjoy Joules, Jaques, Esse and Josiah; and if you're looking for unusual gifts, interior décor, or antiques then don't miss Edward Jones, Anna Karina and Azzura.
The town has two pedestrianised areas - St Mary's Place and Manor Walk, as well as the High Street - Church Street just behind it is one of those back streets that's full of character. As a relatively small town, it's quite easy to wander around, but if you need to take a break there are numerous tearooms, coffee shops and cafés.
The Market Hall is open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays offering a wide variety of stalls from watches to butchers; on Sunday it's an antiques market.
Leicester is only half an hour's drive away and has great shopping facilities. Within the city centre is The Shires - a large shopping centre packed full of high street stores and famous names; Haymarket - with two storeys of well-known shops; and St Martins Square and Leicester Lanes - where designer boutiques and independent outlets can be found. To find out more about the shopping facilities in Leicester, visit the 'Go Leicestershire' website: www.goleicestershire.com
Just out of the city is Fosse Park, a large retail development home to Marks and Spencers, Next, Monsoon, Asda, River Island, Boots and many more. Parking is free, and there are numerous food outlets. Fosse Park is only about twenty-five minutes from Market Harborough, located just off junction 21 of the M1. For more details, including opening hours, a list of stores, and directions, visit the Fosse Park website: www.fosseshoppingpark.co.uk/
For a small town, Market Harborough certainly has its fair share of places to eat out. Whether you're looking to grab a quick bite after a hard day's shopping, wanting to take the family out, or after some fine cuisine, there's bound to be somewhere that suits.
As the town is small, many of its bars and restaurants are close together, so it's easy to enjoy a nice meal and then stroll to a bar for a drink afterwards. Nearby villages offer numerous country pubs where you can enjoy a traditional meal and atmosphere.
The choice is so wide there are far too many restaurants to list here, but the following websites should help you to find the perfect place to eat. www.harboroughonline.co.uk is a useful site to look at as lists a large number of bars, pubs restaurants in and around the town, with telephone numbers. Unfortunately it only gives names and not descriptions and you have to click on each one individually to find out its location. www.touristnetuk.com is not nearly as comprehensive (by its own admission), but gives a useful description and additional information, as well as contact details. www.upmystreet.com categorises restaurants by type, and is great if you know what sort of food you want. If you like seafood, www.seafish.org lists the best seafood restaurants in the area. If you're a fan of Italian food, Firenze in nearby Kibworth Beauchamp has received recommendations from several national newspapers, and the BBC. Even their website makes your mouth water: www.firenze.co.uk.
Market Harborough was founded in the twelfth century as a market town, to boost the economy of the surrounding area.
More recent industry in the town was predominantly clothes manufacturing, notably corsets - and the old Symington's Corset Factory still stands today, housing the town's library. A display of the Symington collection of corsetry can be seen, amongst other displays about local history, features and events, at the Harborough Museum. Admission is free, and it's definitely worth a visit. See www.leics.gov.uk for more information and details of opening times.
There are some beautiful old buildings that are a must-see on any visit to Market Harborough; most notably, the Old Grammar School, St Dionysius Church, and the Town Hall, all of which are in the centre of town, on the High Street.
It is not only Market Harborough itself that offers beautiful architecture and interesting history though. There are lots of smaller towns and villages close by, each of which has a story to tell. To find out more about the history and attractions in local villages visit www.bigfern.btinternet.co.uk.
For those interested in the Arts, there are a couple of notable art galleries in the town: Croft Wingates www.croftwingates.co.uk is a purpose built gallery, displaying work by well-known artists including Rolf Harris, Paul Horton, Mackenzie Thorpe, and Govinder. The Frank Haynes Gallery www.frankhaynesgallery.co.uk promotes the work of local artists, and sells some outstanding original pieces including paintings, drawings and ceramics.
The Harborough Theatre, owned and run by the Market Harborough Drama Society stages at least six of its own plays per year, all done by volunteers, as well as hosting a number of visiting productions. For information on up and coming performances, or to volunteer, visit the MHDS website at www.harboroughtheatre.com
There are other theatre, arts and dance groups within the town, most of which are keen to welcome new members. For a comprehensive list see www.harboroughonline.co.uk, which gives further information, contact details, and web links where available.