Description & Facts: Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, part of Essex in England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles (30 km) east north-east of Charing Cross in London and near the M25 motorway. Brentwood is a suburban town with a small, but expanding, shopping area and high street. Beyond this is extensive sprawling residential development entirely surrounded by open countryside and woodland; some penetrating to within only a few hundred yards of the town centre. It is perhaps most widely known for Brentwood School and for several businesses based in the town. Several notable businesses are located in Brentwood. The Ford Motor Company UK headquarters are located in the nearby suburb of Warley and SOSS hinge manufacturers NV Tools are still based here. The previous and current headquarters of Amstrad are located in Brentwood. UK TV show The Apprentice used overhead views of One Canada Square and the Canary Wharf business complex in London as an accompaniment to interior shots of the previous Amstrad offices - Amstrad House, which has since been converted into a Premier Inn Hotel. Amstrad's current headquarters are located directly opposite the old Amstrad House. Countryside Properties, the property developer, also has a substantial HQ in the town. Well-known businesses that used to operate in the town include Thermos, the famous vacuum flask manufacturer, and Nissen whose UK factory and HQ were established in the town by Ted Blake in the mid-1960s but eventually shut down in the 1980s.