Northampton is a local government district in Northamptonshire, a large market town in the East Midlands region in central England.
The district has a population of 205,000, making it the UK's fourth largest town without official city status, after Reading, Dudley and Warrington.
Northampton, traditionally known for its shoemaking and other leather related industries, has now developed into an important regional business centre for many of Britain’s top companies, due largely to its unbeatable geographical location, In recent years over 200 companies, including 70 from overseas have moved into the town including National Panasonic, Wells Soft Drinks, Barclays Head Office, Avon Cosmetics, Carlsberg-Tetley and British Timken. Others that have joined them are Coca Cola Schweppes, MFI, Scholl, Tesco, Black and Decker, Nationwide.