Livingston,
West Lothian,
Scotland is one of the Scottish
New Towns. It is located about 20 miles to the west of
Edinburgh city centre.
Livingston has a population of approximately 40,000 people, and is well known for its electronics manufacturing industry. It is plays host to large electronics and computing companies such as Mitsubishi, NEC, Shin-Etsu Handotai (who make silicon wafers), Packard Bell (now part of NEC), Epson-Seiko, Cadence, Canon, Compaq and Motorola. There are many other 'hi-tech' industries in the town, ranging from medical companies like Bausch and Lomb, Ethicon and Quintiles to financial services companies such as HSBC and Intelligent Finance, to BSkyB.
Livingston also benefits from good transport infrastructure links and is consequently home to several large-scale distribution centres for national and multi-national organisations.
The economy in Livingston and West Lothian as a whole is expanding year on year, and more and more people are choosing to live and work in the area. There is an ever increasing choice of (more) affordable quality housing available in the town. West Lothian schools are also on the receiving end of a major financial and fabric upgrade programme at the moment, with two new Primary Schools being built with a further number being upgraded, and three Secondary Schools being subject to a major refurbishment programme. One of the largest shopping complexes in the whole of the United Kingdom is also located in Livingston town centre in the form of the Almodvale Shopping Centre and the recently opened BAA Macarthurglen designer outlet centre.