Slough is the most productive place economically in the UK, a new report says, beating London into second place and neighbouring Reading into third.

The report, from think tank Centre for Cities, lists Slough as top for productivity with £82,100 of output per worker compared to London with £73,700 and Reading with £68,900.

Entitled The role of place in the UK’s productivity puzzle, the analysis is taken from Office of National Statistics (ONS) data on Regional Gross Value Added (Income Approach) by Local Authorities in the UK, and the ONS Business Register of Employment Survey.

Councillor Sohail Munawar, leader of Slough Borough Council, said: “Slough has been built on hard work, business and an aspirational population; we are a working town, home to all types of workers from big business headquarters to smaller enterprises and entrepreneurs.

“We are continuing to build on our past successes with investment in new homes, leisure, infrastructure, schools, green spaces – all of which brings further investment in our town.”

He added: “Our regeneration plans are unprecedented with more than £60million being ploughed into our leisure facilities, huge plans for town centre homes, leisure and retail schemes on the old TVU and old library sites and working with the owners of the shopping centres for a major scheme which will herald a new era for the town centre.

“Just two months ago, Glassdoor – one of the world’s largest job sites – named Slough as the top place to work in the UK and now we have also been listed again, by an independent organisation as top for business.”

The report said the performance of towns and cities in the South East made them 44 per cent more productive than other cities in the UK and the region one of the most productive in the whole of Europe.