The council is based in Beeston and the borough also includes the towns of Eastwood, Kimberley and Stapleford and surrounding villages and rural areas.

[3] The district was granted borough status in 1977, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

Parts of the district are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

[6] The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974.

The building was completed in 1991 at a cost of £2.7 million and was formally opened on 17 April 1991 by Andrew Buchanan, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire.

[20] Settlements include Beeston—where the council is based—Attenborough, Awsworth, Bramcote, Brinsley, Chilwell, Cossall, Eastwood, Giltbrook, Greasley, Kimberley, Moorgreen, Newthorpe, Nuthall, Stapleford, Strelley, Swingate, Toton, Trowell and Watnall.

An unparished area in the south of the borough covers the town of Beeston and the neighbouring places of Chilwell, Toton, Attenborough and Bramcote, being the area of the former Beeston and Stapleford Urban District minus Stapleford, which was parished in 1987.