Essex County Council and the county’s tourism body, Visit Essex are launching a campaign, #ThisisEssex – Make it Yours, to encourage people to visit, live, study, work and invest in Essex.
Essex has much to offer from its 350-mile coastline, rural retreats, vineyards and buzzing new cities to its top UK universities, outstanding schools, excellent transport links, new housing developments and proximity to the capital.
The marketing campaign, which includes targeted advertisements on the London Underground and online, is focused on residents of London who may be looking for a better work life balance. Cllr Mark Durham, Chair, Visit Essex, explains: “Essex has so much to offer, we have one of the longest coastlines in the country, as well as great places to stay, vineyards and vibrant new cities.
“Residents enjoy a great quality of life in Essex, have access to top schools and Universities, yet are still just a short journey from the capital. Essex is also well-known for its entrepreneurial spirit making it a great place to work and invest.”
Essex has long been on the tourist map for short breaks and daytrips, in fact the tourism industry in the county is worth £2.4 billion. Alongside the county’s seaside resorts, Essex has seen a rise in glamping breaks, paddleboarding, food and drink related tourism, as well as spa and walking breaks. It also offers a vibrant arts and culture scene, with top regional theatres, live music venues as well as contemporary art galleries.
Essex is also showcasing the county as a great place to live. Over the past two years Essex has topped the Sunday Times Best Places to Live¹ list, with a wide variety of towns and villages, including, Dedham, Epping, Ingatestone, West Mersea and Saffron Walden. Chelmsford² also made it on the best places to live for schools list thanks to its range of top state, grammar and independent schools.
Essex is a more affordable choice for people living in London. Just a short commute from the capital, the county offers first-time buyers and families so much more for their money; average house prices in Essex are £363,549³ compared to £799,974 in the City of London. With the rise of working from home and hybrid working, living further away from the office is a popular growing trend.
The county is also blessed with top independent and state schools as well as a grammar school system, plus the University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University, are classed as being in the top 40* Universities in the UK.
Showcasing the county as a great place to invest is Stephen Allison, General Manager, Wyvernwood, an enchanted kingdom adventure play park near Colchester, which opened to the public on 15 July 2022. He says: “Wyvernwood has invested over £3.5 million, employed 55 staff, planted 3500 trees to bring our 26-acre adventure park, full of magical inhabitants to life.”
He continued: “The stunning Essex countryside provides the perfect backdrop to launch an innovative new family attraction and the people of Essex are great to work with.”
Marketing assets have also been created for businesses and tourist attractions in Essex to share and use as part of their own marketing campaigns to showcase Essex as the place to be.
The campaign has been funded by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), to discover more www.visitessex.com/thisisessex.
