Portsmouth Companies and new opportunities

Most of the city of Portsmouth lies on Portsea Island, where the Solent joins the English Channel and making Portsmouth the UK’s only island city.
For centuries Portsmouth has been a major navel port and is home to the world’s oldest working dry dock and many famous ships including Nelsons flagship HMS Victory.

Located in the county of Hampshire on the South Coast of England some 440,000 residents live and work in the surrounding area.

Although in recent years the military base has declined, nearly one in 10 of the city’s workforce is estimated to be employed at the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard and/or within the defence industry. The area also remains a busy commercial port for freight and passenger traffic to the continent. It has been announced recently that Portsmouth will be involved in the building and eventual 'home port' of the two new Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers “HMS Queen Elizabeth” and “HMS Prince of Wales” which were ordered in 2008, potentially securing the naval base a foreseeable future and revitalising shipbuilding in the city.

Major defence contractors BAE and the VT Group have sites located in the city. IBM located their UK Headquarters in Portsmouth and companies like Zurich UK, Estee Lauder Cosmetics Limited, Gemplus Limited have been attracted to the city further strengthening and diversifying the employment opportunities available.

< Additional information on new, expanding or declining portsmouth companies can be found on the portsmouth business news >

< Companies in Portsmouth and how to purchase. >

Companies Employing 100 or more employees approx 130
Companies Employing 50 to 100 employees approx 175
Companies Employing more than 10 but less than 50 approx 850
Companies Employing less than 10 approx 5,500

Like many locations in the UK, Portsmouth’s retail sector has grown dramatically due to the buoyancy of the local economy. The main shopping area is centred on Commercial Road and the Cascades Shopping Centre built in the 1980’s.
Newer shopping developments (redevelopments) are located at Gunwharf Quays (fashion stores, restaurants and cinema), the Historic Dockyard (tourist and european market stalls), Ocean Retail Park located on the north eastern side of Portsea Island (consumer goods) and the Bridge Centre built in 1988 and home to the Asda Walmart store.

The city is divided into two parliamentary constituencies, Portsmouth South (represented by Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock) and Portsmouth North (represented by Labour MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry).  The Portsmouth urban area (which has a population double that of the City of Portsmouth) includes Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Portchester, Southsea and Whiteley.
The City Council (a unitary authority) is made up of 42 Councillors (19 Liberal, 19 Conservative, 2 Labour, 2 Independents’ and led by the Liberal Democrats.)

Gerald Vernon Jackson is currently leader of the council.
Portsmouth City Council
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
Hampshire, PO1 2BG
Tel: 023 9282 2251