Basingstoke is a townEngland and Wales in north east Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading, Berkshire and northeast of the county town, Winchester. Basingstoke is often nicknamed "Doughnut City" or "Roundabout City" due to the number of roundabouts.
Often mistaken for a New town, Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the 1960s as part of a tripartite agreement between London County Council, Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke Borough Council. It was developed rapidly, along with Andover, Hampshire and Tadley, to accommodate part of the London overspill as perceived under the Greater London Plan, 1944.
Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book and Basingstoke remained a small market town until the 1950s. It still has a regular market, but is now bigger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town.
Basingstoke is an economic centre with low unemployment, and is the location of the UK headquarters of De La Rue, Sun Life Financial, The Automobile Association, ST Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, GAME (retailer), Motorola, BNP Paribas, the leasing arm of BNP Paribas in the UK, and Sony Professional Solutions (Europe). Other industries include pharmaceutical industry, Information Technology, Telecommunication, insurance and electronics.
