Business events in North Hampshire

Three councils along one motorway

North Hampshire is the part of the county that looks towards London. The M3 runs through it from the Surrey border to Basingstoke, and the main railway line to London Waterloo runs beside it, stopping at Farnborough, Fleet, Hook and Basingstoke.

Three councils share it. Basingstoke and Deane is the largest, with 185,200 people at the 2021 Census. Rushmoor, which is Farnborough and Aldershot, had 99,800 and is crowded by Hampshire standards: the Office for National Statistics ranks it the 11th most densely populated of the South East's 64 council areas. Hart, which takes in Fleet and Hook, had 99,400 and is much more open. All three grew between the censuses, Basingstoke and Deane fastest at 10.4%.

Tadley sits on its own in the far north of Basingstoke and Deane, close to the Berkshire border. Farnham is not in Hampshire at all: it is in Waverley borough, Surrey. Hampshire Events includes it because it is a few miles from Aldershot, across the county line; Waverley counted 128,200 people at the 2021 Census.

Aerospace, defence and the army

Farnborough and Aldershot have a character of their own. Rushmoor Borough Council's plan for 2026 to 2028 includes a Farnborough Aerospace Cluster Development Action Plan, and in July 2026 the council and its partners used the Farnborough International Airshow to launch an investment prospectus for the two towns, pitching them for defence, aerospace, technology and innovation-led growth. At the same launch, the local MP described Aldershot as the home of the British Army.

Both town centres are being reworked. The council points to Union Yard in Aldershot and the Landing town square in Farnborough as new places already changing the centres, and its plan includes a review of the Farnborough Civic Quarter masterplan and work on the public areas of Aldershot, Farnborough and North Camp. Basingstoke has a different mix of large employers, set out on its own page.

Getting about

Most journeys here are along the M3 or the railway beside it, so events near a station on the main line are easy to reach from London as well as from the rest of the area. Aldershot and Farnham are on a separate branch, and Tadley has no station. Each venue's page gives the nearest station and the parking.