A commuter town rediscovering its river

Staines sits inside the M25, seventeen miles from Charing Cross, with the Thames Path crossing Staines Bridge at its heart. The pedestrianised High Street holds a market three days a week, backed by the Elmsleigh Centre and Two Rivers retail park, and the town's connections — direct trains to Waterloo on the Windsor and Reading lines, Heathrow minutes away — have drawn names like Bupa, Centrica and Samsung's UK R&D arm here.

The riverside is where the town is changing fastest: Spelthorne's Staines Development Framework is reshaping the centre around new homes and public space along the water. It's also home in the literal sense — our office is here, and Robert King lives on the river in Staines — so when we talk about the local market, we're describing the view from our own front doors.