This month Slough’s Empire Cinema announced its closure, citing the shopping centre redevelopment due to start in January as a contributing factor
(Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)Say goodbye to David Brent, and leave your preconceptions about this post-war commuter town at the door.
Because humble Slough, the butt of endless jokes, is at the start of a £400m pound rejuvenation journey which will evolve this dull concrete jungle into a thriving, creative, modern destination.
The prospect of shortened journey times to London thanks to the Elizabeth Line have had a massive impact on this Berkshire town.
Fictional paper merchant Wernham Hogg was once Slough’s best known business. But in the past few years real-world names like Nintendo, O2, Oracle, and Microsoft have all moved in.
On a smaller scale Slough is the town with the most new creative jobs and businesses, according to the recent Geography of Creativity in the UK report. Glassdoor has named it the best place to work in Britain for three years running.
And investment has swiftly followed, with new homes, facilities, and landmark buildings. Slough Urban Renewal, a partnership between the council and Muse developments, has been hard at work building a new leisure centre, The Centre, updating the ice rink, and building possibly the funkiest library in Britain, the Curve.
Meanwhile the rather beautiful old Horlicks factory, built in 1908, is being repurposed as some 1,300 new homes by Berkeley Homes. The 12-acre development will be surrounded by landscaped gardens with a roof terrace with views all the way to Windsor Castle, and plenty of bells and whistles: a games room, fitness centre, cinema, workspace, café and day nursery.
The first residents moved onto the site back in April, and it will be completed in 2028. Prices start at £300,000 for a one bedroom flat and £369,950 for a two bedroom property.
Journey times on the Elizabeth line
Slough to Tottenham Court Road: 57 minutes (including interchange at Paddington)
Slough to Paddington: 39 minutes
Slough to Liverpool Street: 68 minutes (including interchange at Paddington)
Sabrina and Ganesh Jillah moved to Slough eight years ago. The couple had just had their first child, Tyler, now aged ten, and wanted to get out of the urban surrounds of Brixton. Slough was affordable and conveniently close to their parents.
“At first I used to tell people I had moved to north Windsor,” said Sabrina, 43. “I came with all these negative thoughts about Slough. It is not pretty, it has got this reputation from The Office. But when I moved here I started to go to local play groups and the mums were just so friendly it completely changed my point of view. There are no mummy cliques, it is very multicultural, and there is lots to do.”
Sabrina, 43, a blogger (@themummystylist; www.themummystylist.com) and freelance graphic designer, and Ganesh, 44, who works in marketing, opted for a newly built two-bedroom apartment close to the station, which they share with Tyler, and his little sister Lily, six.
Beyond activities with the kids there are great neighbourhood restaurants like Chaiiwala on the Farnham Road, but Sabrina and Ganesh tend to swerve the “awful” high street and head to Windsor for eating and shopping — the train takes just six minutes. Trips to London, Oxford, and Gerrards Cross also make a nice change of scene. “It is such a convenient place to live,” said Sabrina.
Average house prices since work on Crossrail started
2012: £264,960
2022: £433,410
Growth: 64 per cent
Source: Hamptons
Stefan Baisden, sales manager of Hunters estate agents, said that as the pandemic progressed buyer numbers have slowly and steadily been increasing in Slough. Around half his buyers are leaving London – either moving outward along the M4 corridor in search of space and value, or increasingly switching over from east London because they can buy a larger property and still get to work in the City or Canary Wharf thanks to Crossrail.
Prices have grown 11 per cent during the past two years as a result.
Families love the affluent suburb of Cippenham where King Henry III once had a palace, and where you could pick up a three bedroom home for around £530,000 to £540,000. Alternatively, back in the town centre, two bedroom purpose built flats go for between £280,000 and £325,000.
Renters tend to already live in Slough, said Baisden, and pay around £1,500pcm for a three bedroom house or £1,250 for a two bedroom flat.
The future for Slough
British Land, the firm currently rebuilding Canada Water, has also set its eyes further west. Together with co-owner the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority it wants to redevelop Slough’s dismal Queensmere Shopping Centre on the High Street, with some 1,600 homes, shops, restaurants, leisure facilities, and a town square. Planning permission notwithstanding the work could begin as soon as next year.
And while work continues on the Horlicks Quarter, (outline) planning permission has already been granted to build some 1,000 new homes on the site of a former paint factory on Wexham Road, after years of wrangling.
