The home of former Take That dancer and solo star Robbie Williams, Stoke-on-Trent is otherwise known for its long-standing pottery industry.
Around 3.5m tourists come to Stoke each year to see the internationally renowned Pottery industry. They can't all be lost. What amazes me is that 80 per cent of them come back again! Stoke is one of the most depressed - and depressing - areas in the country.
There are houses to be had for as little as £50K, meaning that you'll be able to snap up four terraced houses for the national average price of £200,000. Britain's number one Theme Park, Alton Towers, is just down the road but why pay £35 for a ride on Oblivion, when it's right here for free?
World-famous names such as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Minton and Spode were established and based here, with bone china being a particularly popular product. Ever since the 12th century, ceramics have been at the heart of the area, which became a focal point for this skilled design trade.
Being a centre for coal mining, North Staffordshire in general has a highly industrial past, and several pits were located in Stoke-on-Trent. The battery of museums, factory shops, visitor centres and steam railways are illustrative of the legacy of this area, known affectionately as 'the Potteries'. For nature enthusiasts, the Peak District National Park is on the outskirts of the borough, and is a rambler's playground full of picturesque sights.
While much of the industrial footprint in Stoke has been given a facelift, the manufacturing industry is still prevalent here. Certainly, the job profile in Stoke-on-Trent is slightly different to the UK profile, and the number of people employed within the manufacturing industry here is seven per cent greater than the average across the country. In contrast, the proportion of jobs in the Finance, Business and IT sector is more than nine per cent down on the national average, proving that a considerable section of the population still spend their time getting their hands dirty.
In an area where the average house price is £134,000 - an increase of 14 per cent from the previous year - unemployment also falls just below the national average, with only 5.1 per cent of the borough's population who are of working age finding themselves out of a job. A much more pessimistic statistic, though, is the rate of violent crime offences committed in the area, which at 33.3 per thousand of the population is double the national average.
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