Aldershot and Rushmoor: the business picture in figures

Aldershot is usually described by its past: the army town, the garrison, the football club. The official figures tell a more specific story about the present. Aldershot sits in the borough of Rushmoor with Farnborough, and together they have a business base that leans much further towards technology and professional work than the rest of the South East. This piece sets out what the numbers say, what has changed in the town centre, and where people in the borough go to meet each other.

How many businesses, and how big

In the UK Business Counts for March 2026, Nomis counted 3,395 enterprises in Rushmoor. Of those:

• 2,940 were micro businesses, with nine or fewer people (86.6%)
• 325 were small (10 to 49)
• 100 were medium (50 to 249)
• 25 were large, with 250 or more

Counted by workplace rather than by business, there were 4,125 local units, because some firms have more than one site in the borough. The population was 106,185 in 2025.

So most firms are small, as they are across Hampshire. What stands out is what people do.

A borough of engineers and analysts

Nomis gives 52,000 employee jobs in Rushmoor in 2024, and the industry split is unusual:

• Information and communication: 9,000 jobs, 17.3% of employee jobs. The South East figure is 5.6%, and Great Britain's 4.5%.
• Professional, scientific and technical activities: 7,000 jobs, 13.5%, against 9.3% for both the South East and Great Britain.

In other words, roughly one job in six in Rushmoor is in information and communication, about three times the regional share. The council's own plan names the reason it wants to build on: the Council Delivery Plan 2026-28 aims to "develop Aldershot and Farnborough as hubs for defence, aerospace and technology".

The total amount of work is also growing in money terms. The ONS's regional accounts, released on 23 September 2026, put Rushmoor's gross value added at £8,365 million in 2024 at current prices, up from £8,055 million in 2023 and £7,012 million in 2022. The 2024 figure is provisional, and current prices include inflation, so read it as a direction rather than a measure of real growth.

Union Yard and the town centre

The most visible change in Aldershot is Union Yard, the council's own town centre development. The council says it was "recently finished" and opened officially on Monday 10 March. It lists:

• Polden Studios, 128 student units
• Burton House, 35 one and two bedroom apartments
• Seacole Place, 47 apartments
• Sheldrake House, 18 affordable apartments
• 12 flexible commercial and retail units on the ground floor

The delivery plan's next steps include selling 82 residential units at Union Yard and filling the remaining retail units. For local businesses, the student flats and new homes mean more people living in the town centre itself, which matters to cafés, shops and anyone who runs early or after-work meetings there.

The same plan commits the council to "one-to-one business advice and training focused on key growth sectors and retail", to supporting an Aldershot and Farnborough Growth Partnership, and to reviewing the Farnborough Civic Quarter masterplan. Those are plans, not results yet, and the council's page is the place to check how they are going.

Heritage that still shapes the borough

The army link is real and documented. The Aldershot Military Museum, run by Hampshire Cultural Trust, tells the story of daily life for soldier and civilian since 1854. Farnborough's aviation history runs alongside it, and its airfield is home to Farnborough International, where the borough's largest business events are held.

The Farnborough International Airshow is the largest of them. After the July 2026 show, the trade body ADS Group reported £62.9 billion of deals in the first four days, with 353 firm aircraft orders and 904 firm engine orders. Those are ADS's own tallies of announcements, and the deals are worldwide, not local. The airshow runs every two years; locally, it brings the aerospace industry's buyers and suppliers into the borough for a week.

The venue works the rest of the year too. In May 2025 Farnborough International said it had welcomed over 100,000 visitors that year already, and that it had secured seven event contracts for 2026.

What this means if you're going to events

A few practical things follow from the figures.

• Expect technical people. With so many jobs in information, communication and professional services, rooms in Rushmoor often have engineers, consultants and contractors to the aerospace and defence firms. A plain line on what you do, without jargon, goes further than a pitch.
• Look both ways along the A331. Aldershot and Farnborough are one borough, and Fleet, Farnham and Hook are close. Most of the regular groups we list nearby meet in Farnborough, so it is worth looking at Farnborough, Fleet and Farnham as well as Aldershot.
• Weekly groups meet early. The regular groups in the area are mostly breakfasts, including two weekly referral chapters in Farnborough. Our guide to choosing a networking group explains how visiting works.
• The big days are at Farnborough International. The expo listed below is one of the larger days there. Our guide to your first business event has a short checklist for larger days.

Where to start

The events listed below are the ones in and around Rushmoor at the time of the last build, drawn from the organisers' own listings. For everything else, see the Aldershot and Farnborough town pages, the North Hampshire area page, or what's on this week across the county.