BANBURY has been voted Britain's most prosperous town for business for the second year running.

Banbury, which won last year, narrowly beat Eastleigh, Harrogate and Maidstone, which all tied for second place in a national survey.

The M40 has been cited as a major factor in Banbury's rise to the top with many international and national firms choosing to relocate or develop around the town.

The profit and loss survey, carried out by business information firm Dun & Bradstreet, showed 89.9 per cent of businesses in the town made a profit, just pipping the other three towns , each of which recorded 89.7 per cent.

The only other town to top the survey twice is Leamington Spa which was placed first in 1996 and 1997. Last year it dropped to eighth and this year dropped further still to 53rd.

Philip Mellor, senior analyst at Dun & Bradstreet, said: "The respective positions of Banbury and Leamington tell their own story.

"Manufacturing, particularly in the Midlands, has encountered the worst of the economic slowdown over the past few years.

"Banbury has benefited from its large number of companies involved in the service sector which has helped to cushion it from the slowdown seen elsewhere." Grahame Handley, chief executive of Cherwell District Council and chairman of the Cherwell-M40 Investment Partnership, said: "This is another tremendous boost for Banbury. It comes at a time when the whole of the Cherwell district is on the threshold of what looks certain to be the most exciting period in its modern day history."

The company recorded as making the largest profit in Banbury was Vodafone Retail, with profits of £63,579,000.

Major expanding firms in the area range from De Boer Structures, which makes exhibition halls and distribution company McGregor Cory to food coatings manufacturer Witwood Foods and motorsport specialists Prodrive.

Overall the percentage of companies in Britain's top 50,000 making a profit was 81.3 per cent, slightly up on the 80.8 per cent that made a profit last year.

The top ten towns in the survey were: 1 Banbury, 89.9 per cent; 2= Eastleigh, Harrogate and Maidstone, 89.7; 5 Preston, 89.4; 6 Halifax, 88.6; 7 St Albans, 88.3; 8= Barking and Bath, 88.1; 10 Wembley, 88.0.

Story date: Monday 17 May

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.