The county of Northamptonshire, or Northants, as it’s also known, covers an area of 2,358 square kilometres and has a population of around 735,000 people as of 2011. The county town is Northampton but other notable towns include Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and Daventry. In 2011, out of a total population of 640,000, 121,000 were children under 16 and 173,000 were working-age adults between 16 and 64. There were also 49,000 retirees aged 65 or over. The county hosts a broad range of economic activities from high-tech manufacturing to textiles and local service industries. In 2011, 187,000 people were employed with the annual GVA (Gross Value Added) standing at £25 billion – just over 1% of UK GVA. The largest employers of Northamptonshire are Vodafone, Aviva and Santander bank.