The southern town of Reading is located between Oxford, London and Basingstoke.
Historically, Reading is a town with strong connections to the monarchy and the monasteries. Economically, Reading developed through its food based industries such as brewing and baking but today is known as a retail hub after its city centre was voted the best performing retail area in the UK.
Other areas of commerce include digital media and technology with companies like Erricson, Web Sense, Cisco and Symantic all operating in industrial estates around Reading. Some of Readings more famous citizens have included Jane Austen, Ricky Gervais and Oscar Wilde.