Contractor accommodation for Rugby

Rugby's working life has long been heavy engineering. British Thomson-Houston and Willans & Robinson set up in the town in the 1900s and their works passed through AEI, English Electric, GEC and Alstom. GE Vernova still builds large electric motors and services steam turbines here, a site saved in 2019 by a Ministry of Defence order for motors.

Cement is the other giant. Rugby Cement began making it from local Blue Lias limestone at New Bilton in the 1860s. Today's plant opened in 2000 with the largest cement kiln in the UK, able to make 1.8 million tonnes a year. Its owner Cemex moved its UK headquarters to Rugby in 2018.

Logistics now leads. Rugby sits in the golden logistics triangle beside junction 1 of the M6 and in 2021 it had the highest share of business units used for transport and storage anywhere in the UK, at 17 per cent. Warehousing and distribution estates have spread across the north of the town since the 1980s.

The building work is close by too. Houlton is rising on the old radio station land east of Rugby and Cawston has grown on the west side. DIRFT is about four miles east of the town and Magna Park about seven and a half miles north.

Stoke Lodge and Stoke House are about 11 miles by road from Rugby, Humber Hub about 12 miles and Sullivan Heights about 14 miles. A crew gets four en-suite bedrooms at Humber Hub, off-road parking for the vans and a washing machine for workwear, invoiced to the contractor with its PO reference.