Connections

Melton has great transport links that allow fast road and rail travel to major cities including Leicester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Peterborough and London. Bus services through the Borough connect various villages to larger servicing settlements. 

Road Network

Road connections generally are excellent. Two main A-roads intersect at Melton Mowbray: the A606 Nottingham to Oakham road, and the A607 Leicester to Grantham road.

Melton is a 30-minute drive from Leicester and 30 minutes to the M1 motorway to the west. The A1 (Great North Road) is only 12 miles to the east, while it’s 21 miles northwest to Nottingham and 36 miles southwest to Peterborough. The A52 Nottingham to Grantham road runs through the northern edge of the Borough. London is 120 miles by road, Birmingham 50 miles and Manchester 100 miles.

Rail Network

Melton Mowbray Railway Station is on the line from Birmingham to Stansted Airport, which also serves Leicester, Peterborough and Cambridge. Trains run hourly in both directions.

East Midlands Trains provide a single daily return journey from Melton Mowbray to London St Pancras.

Hourly rail services run to Leicester (16 minutes), Birmingham (68 minutes), Peterborough (40 minutes), Cambridge (90 minutes) and to Stansted Airport (2 hours 50 minutes). London can be reached in 90 minutes with a change at Leicester.

Bottesford Railway Station in the village of Bottesford is 15 miles northeast of Melton on the Nottingham to Skegness line. It also provides a good connection to Grantham 7 miles to the east. The typical journey time between Bottesford and Nottingham is 28 minutes. The line generally operates every two hours. Westbound trains to Nottingham depart from platform 1, while eastbound trains to Skegness via Grantham depart from platform 2.

Some Grantham trains connect to London King’s Cross and York services. Additionally, one train to Liverpool operates each day. On Sundays, an extra service operates to Norwich.

See journey information from Melton Mowbray to London

The Bus Network

Arriva Midlands operates service 5A/5X into Leicester. Centrebus operates the other services around the town, with longer-distance routes to Syston, Nottingham, Grantham, Loughborough, Oakham and elsewhere, as well as to surrounding villages.

Airports

Melton is ideally located for business travel by road to several of the country’s major airports. Nottingham City Airport is 15 miles away. East Midlands Airport (now a Freeport) is 23 miles to the northwest. Birmingham International Airport is 54 miles. Luton Airport is 90 miles. Stansted Airport is 95 miles. Doncaster’s Robin Hood Airport is 65 miles. Manchester Airport is 101 miles. London Heathrow is 115 miles.

The digital revolution matters to Melton because digital change creates tangible opportunities for innovation and growth. In addition, effective digital connection and adoption relieves the uncertainty for all and the potential alienation of those left behind. The Council’s vision is to support the infrastructure required of a digital Borough and to empower people and organisations to be digitally confident. The objective is for everyone, including the Council, to capitalise on the digital age. By bringing new technology into the heart of how we do things, we will ensure that more people get the service they need in a way that’s responsive, intuitive and convenient.

Superfast Leicestershire 

Superfast Leicestershire is a multi-million-pound project led by the County Council, in partnership with British Telecommunications (BT), the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and district councils. The aim of the project is to bring superfast broadband access to areas not served by commercial operators.

At the completion of Phase 2 of the programme, more than 72,000 properties have gained access to superfast broadband, including approximately 11,000 businesses. 

This has been achieved through a public sector investment of £18m and a BT capital contribution of £8.5m. As a direct result of the Programme’s intervention, coverage of Superfast Broadband across Leicestershire has increased from 81% to 97%, which is above the UK average. Currently, the programme is commencing Phase 3, which aims to upgrade a further 2,400 properties with a FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) solution. 

The programme offers funding opportunities for businesses and residents through the Project Gigabit Voucher Scheme and various other useful information around Broadband technology.  

The Superfast Leicestershire website hosts a coverage map that gives information about broadband coverage at property level across the County.

Superfast Coverage in Melton

By the end of Sept 2019, coverage of Superfast Leicestershire across Melton had risen to 97%. The take-up of services has increased to over 70% across Phase 1 & Phase 2 of the Programme.

The Broadband Team is currently collaborating with BDUK to agree a ‘Planning for Gigabit’ plan for Leicestershire, considering further feasible interventions and mechanisms aimed at extending coverage across the remaining unserved areas, including Melton.

As part of the Government’s Project Gigabit, which underpins the government’s commitment to a vision of a full-fibre Britain, business and residents in some of the hardest-to-reach places in the UK are eligible for additional funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to their premises when part of a group project. Rural premises, experiencing speeds below 30 Megabits per second (Mbps), will be eligible for up to £3,500 per small and medium-sized businesses (SME) and up to £1,500 per resident to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. For full details about whether you are eligible for a voucher and to connect you to a full-fibre broadband supplier, please visit the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme website.

You can view the Superfast Leicestershire website link & interactive map here.

Digital Support for SMEs

Organisations across Leicester and Leicestershire can benefit from a range of fully-funded workshops and webinars, opportunities to receive financial help and free one-to-one digital business advice through the Digital Growth Programme.

Managed by East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire), the Digital Growth Programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Chamber and Leicestershire County Council. The objective is to support SMEs by improving productivity that will aid growth.

Its schedule of events is designed to help SMEs embrace digital marketing and technology, learn about new software and gain digital skills. Topics range from Social Media, Cloud, Email Marketing, SEO, Website Planning and Paid Advertising.

Eligible SMEs can also access financial support from grant funding to help with the introduction of new systems and software. Grants from £2,000 to £25,000 are available for a variety of technology-based projects. There is also one-to-one digital business advice on hand to support SMEs through the grant process.

To take advantage of the fully-funded support, register your interest today by visiting www.leics-digital.co.uk or contact the Events & Engagement Officer, Collette Degia, on 07387 141590.

De Montfort University: Virtual Digital Support 

DMUworks is providing local businesses with free student support. 

Do you have a business or project need that talented DMU students could deliver?

Benefits to Businesses

• Access to talented individuals who are motivated, skilled and can bring fresh ideas
• Students can provide additional, skilled support to reduce pressure, workload and demand
• A low-commitment opportunity to test student recruitment with less risk
• Raising your brand awareness to over 20,000 students in the local area
• Great for staff development through supporting a student and building on leadership and mentoring skills
• Students can contribute to specific mini projects 

Confirm your interest by completing the following Proposal Form and the DMUworks Team will make contact. 

The scheme is for remote support only – by phone, email or via online tools.

Education Connections

Melton is home to two progressive further education colleges and close to all three of Leicestershire’s top Universities, each highly regarded in the world rankings. All offer exceptional facilities to collaborate with and support businesses, including innovation centres, incubation space and Research & Development resources.

Read more on the Education page.