The largest towns in these counties are Boston, Chesterfield, Coalville, Corby, Glossop, Grantham, Kettering, Loughborough, Northampton, Mansfield, Oakham, Swadlincote and Wellingborough.

Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government launched its austerity programme after the 2010 general election, regional bodies such as those have been devolved to smaller groups now on a county level.

The M1 (part of the E13 European route) serves the four largest urban areas in the region and affords a motorway link between London, Yorkshire, and North East England.

To the east of the largest cities lies the A1 (part of the European route E15), which is important for journeys to and from ports on England's north-east coast and the capital, and is a major artery for the United Kingdom's agricultural industry.

The A43 dual carriageway connects the East Midlands via the M40 motorway corridor with the university city of Oxford, as well as South of England and Solent ports further afield.

The three lines provide regular high-speed services to London, at up to 125 mph (200 km/h), serving Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Grantham, Newark North Gate and Retford.

Robert Robinson, of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, invented the circular symbol in 1925 for the pi bonds of the benzene ring, as found on all structural diagrams of aromatic compounds.

Nottinghamshire's Ken Richardson was in charge of the team at Pfizer in Sandwich, Kent that in 1981 discovered Fluconazole (Diflucan), the world's leading antifungal medication, especially useful for those with weakened immune systems.

The success of the experiment persuaded the British government to fund the development of a network of full scale radar stations on the south coast of England, which became known as Chain Home, which provided a decisive advantage to the RAF in the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Additionally, the world's oldest working factory can also be found in the area, producing textiles at Lea Bridge, owned by John Smedley.

Horace W. Lee invented the inverted telephoto lens (known as the Angénieux retrofocus) in 1931, lengthening the back focal length of the camera for the 1930s Technicolor Process and for vignetting.

KTM UK (high-performance motorcycles) is at Buckingham Industrial Estate in southeast Brackley next to the A43; to the west, next door over the former railway was Brawn GP (former Honda F1 before 2008) near the A422 roundabout in Evenley.

Giant UK (high performance bicycles) on the Charnwood Edge Business Park at the A46/A607 junction in Cossington near the Midland Main Line and River Wreake.

FKI who own Brush Electrical Machines is in Loughborough, home to the Energy Technologies Institute and John Taylor & Co, which although entering administration in 2009, is the largest bell foundry in the world.

Sealed Air UK on the Telford Way Industrial Estate near Kettering General Hospital makes Bubble Wrap, which its parent USA company invented in 1960.

RPC Group in Rushden opposite a Waitrose, on the A6, is a large (international, the largest of its type in Europe) packaging company, and make the bottles for Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

The Watchkeeper WK450 UAV is built jointly by Thales and Elbit on Scudamore Road in west Leicester, towards the M1; it is tested at Aberporth Airport in Wales; 54 are on order, costing £1bn.

Barratt Developments (housing) is at the A511/B585 roundabout in Ellistown and Battleflat (Bardon), southeast of Coalville; Ibstock is the largest brick manufacturer (900 million a year, with twenty factories) in the UK, nearby to the southwest; .

The lingerie companies Gossard, Aristoc, Pretty Polly, and Berlei (formerly owned by Courtaulds, now CUK Clothing) were based in Daybrook; most of their hosiery was made at West Mill in Belper.

Brantano Footwear UK, based in Leicester before 2002, were in Ellistown and Battleflat until March 2017, just south of Coalville near M1 junction 22, nearby to Nestlé's national distribution centre.

Blacks Leisure Group (previous owner of Blacks and Millets before financial failure and takeover by JD Sports) was based in Duston, in the west of Northampton, and is now off the A45 in the east of the town on the Swan Valley Ind Est, near the UK & Ireland base of Levi Strauss & Co. Joules country clothing is on the A4304, east of Market Harborough at The Point near the A6 roundabout and the Northamptonshire boundary at Dingley.

TW Kempton are a main manufacturer of uniforms for the armed and police services opposite the National Space Centre on the A6 in north Leicester; they also own the Fortis body armour brand and make PASGT nylon fibre helmets for troops.

There are three main distribution centres in the area at Magna Park in Leicestershire (the largest of its kind in Europe), and Brackmills and the Daventry International Railfreight Terminal in Northamptonshire.

Greencore UK (former Derby-based Hazlewood Foods) is off the A616 at Barlborough Links; its site at Manton Wood Enterprise Zone, Worksop claims to be the world's largest sandwich factory.

Cat food such as Whiskas is made in Melton Mowbray by Masterfoods; their Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition on the A607 claims to be the world's leading authority on petfood research.

Slimming World, who help people lose weight, is in Pinxton, near Alfreton off the A38; on the other side of the railway NHS Supply Chain was formed in 2006 on the Cotes Park Industrial Estate in Somercotes; nearby Diversey UK (former JohnsonDiversey) has a manufacturing plant, and is based at the A43/A4500 junction at Weston Favell.

Rutland (amongst the highest-performing areas in the region where GCSE standards are concerned) has one of the highest percentages of pupils reaching the threshold of five grade A–C GCSEs (including Maths and English) in England.

The first 1978 BDO World Darts Championship was held in Nottingham, in February 1978, being largely the idea of Nick Hunter, a BBC sports producer, and the event first introduced Sid Waddell.

The western area of the High Peak (Buxton, Glossop, New Miils and Chapel-en-le-Frith) in Derbyshire are covered by BBC North West from Winter Hill and Granada Television, both based in Salford.

Digital switchover took place in April 2011 for the Nottingham and Northampton areas; Waltham and Belmont (including the local repeater stations) changed in late August 2011.