Long stays for work in Rugby

Rugby sits at the meeting of the M1, M6 and M45, close to the A5, A14 and A45. That has made it one of the country's busiest logistics towns. Since the 1980s large industrial estates have spread across the north of the town and in 2017 Hermes opened its Midlands Super Hub here.

Engineering never left either: the town has built gas and steam turbines and electrical equipment since the 1900s. In 2010 the Rugby Western Relief Road opened, linking the A45 with the Leicester Road towards junction 1 of the M6 at a final cost of more than £60 million.

On a contract of several months, the details of daily life matter more than the miles. Stoke Lodge and Stoke House are about 11 miles by road from Rugby, Humber Hub about 12 miles and Sullivan Heights about 14 miles. Every house has a washing machine, a kitchen and free parking. The bills and the council tax are in the price. The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Centre, the town's indoor leisure centre, opened in 2013.

Going home at the weekend is easy from Rugby too. The station is a principal stop on the West Coast Main Line, with frequent trains to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Stafford, Crewe and Northampton. Transport and storage made up 17 per cent of the town's business units in 2021, the highest share recorded anywhere in the country.