It lies close to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and is on a major motorway from London to Wales and the west of England, as well as being a major stop on the UK’s first ever high-speed railway line. So speed has always been one of the main strengths of the connections which Reading enjoys, to all parts of the world.

These attributes ensured that, especially during the latter half of the 20th century, Reading enjoyed a prolonged period of prosperity, which saw it emerge out of the shadows of London, which although it lies just over 40 miles away, tends to overshadow many towns around it, purely by virtue of its size. Reading, however, stole a march on even London in the 1960s when it attracted two of the first major players in the IT sector, International Computers Ltd (ICL) and Digital, to establish bases there. They are now part of Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard respectively, but both retain their allegiance to the town.

Others in similar fields which subsequently joined them – and led to the section of the M4 motorway running west from Reading to Swindon being nicknamed the UK’s ‘silicon valley’ – include Intel, Ericsson, Virgin Media, Cisco Systems and Websense. Longer established in the area, but now arguably Reading’s second most important employer, is the accountancy sector, with the presence of offices of all the UK’s four largest practices demonstrating the high net value of the town’s business community.

Lying only 25 miles from London Heathrow Airport, and 60 miles from Gatwick, companies and individuals from all around the world can rely on top-quality, speedy and reliable international delivery services whenever they need to get a parcel to Reading. Reading is able to benefit from these extensive airport connections which help individuals, and businesses of any size and type, access the town with cost-effective solutions catering for all manner of deliveries.

East to west road transport is primarily via the M4 motorway, which stretches from London to South Wales, while towns and cities on the south coast can be easily reached via the A33 road, which links the town with the major south coast port of Southampton via a fast dual carriageway. Reading is the UK’s 21st largest town, with an estimated population of nearly 235,000, so there are potentially rich rewards available for businesses which want to team up with a reliable UK courier to help them get their products into a potentially lucrative market.

Comparing shipping costs for sending a parcel to Reading has been made easy for anyone, thanks to the emergence of online comparison services which put many well-regarded and trusted delivery companies at anyone’s fingertips.