Jobs in Paignton

Paignton sits on the western side of Torbay, a seaside town of around 67,000 that earns most of its living from the holiday trade. Alongside the tourism economy, the wider bay retains a long-standing cluster of photonics and optical-fibre engineering, so live vacancies tend to split between seasonal hospitality, retail and care work on one side and skilled engineering, optics and production roles on the other.

The photonics heritage runs deep here. The old STC factory on Brixham Road, later Nortel and then Bookham, once employed thousands making optical components before it wound down and was eventually demolished; Lumentum's large fibre-optics operation at Westfield Business Park on Long Road also closed in 2023. The activity that remains is now concentrated at the EPIC centre (the Electronics and Photonics Innovation Centre) on White Rock Business Park, which reached full occupancy in 2024. Tenants there include EFFECT Photonics, Bay Photonics and QLM Technology, and the centre runs cleanrooms and a prototyping suite, so optical assembly, cleanroom and electronics roles come up across the cluster. Gooch & Housego has manufactured photonic components in neighbouring Torquay for over 30 years. Away from the high-tech end, Torbay Hospital and the wider Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust employ around 6,500 staff across clinical and care roles; the holiday parks and seafront hospitality hire heavily from spring through summer; and Suttons Seeds is based on Woodview Road. Torbay Business Park off Woodview and Long Road, and the larger Yalberton Industrial Estate off Yalberton Road, cover the lighter industrial and warehousing units.

Transport: Paignton is the terminus of the Riviera Line, with roughly half-hourly trains to Torquay, Newton Abbot and Exeter, plus Great Western Railway through services to Exeter, Bristol and London Paddington, though London is a long haul and most commuting is local. The A380 links the bay to the A38 and the M5 near Exeter. Postcodes: TQ3 covers Preston, Marldon and the northern part of town, and TQ4 the centre, harbour, Goodrington and the southern estates. Bay recruitment agencies lean heavily on hospitality, care and industrial temp placements, so registering with a couple is worth it for seasonal or shift work.