Ancient stones and modern industry sit side by side in the UK’s beautiful South West region.

	Area:	23,828 sq km
	Population:	4.9m
	Regional GDP³	£58.2bn
	Exports to EU³	£6.8bn
	Exports outside EU³	£2.8bn
	Unemployment‡	3.6%
	Industrial property cost*	91.7
	Office rental cost**	72.2
	% of exports to Asia/Oceania³	8.5%
	Foreign manufacturing investment²	£451m
	UK manufacturing investment²	£977m
	R&D expenditure³	£887m
	Gross Value Added per employee¹	£34,300
	Export value per employee³	£4850
	Average earnings per hour³ (male)	£10.20
	Average earnings per hour³ (female)	£8.30
	³=2000; ‡=Q1,2001; ²=1997; *index: UK=100 (type 3 industrial property Q1 2001); ¹=manufacturing; ** index: UK=100 (type 1 office accommodation Q1 2001)

The South Western tail of England may be well known to many Australians for its boast as the UK’s best surfing destination, but it also contains the commercial capitals of Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and Gloucester, as well as the charms of Cheltenham, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Bath (pictured).

Major flagship regeneration projects across the region include Temple Quay, Bristol Harbourside, Royal William Yard and Plymouth International Business Park, while established clusters include the automotive, environmental and marine engineering sectors, electronics and telecommunications, medical devices and biotechnology. British Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, GKN West-land, Messier Dowty, Smiths Group and other aerospace and defence giants have major investments throughout the area. A number of world-class powerboat and racing car manufacturers are located on the south coast in Poole.

More than 1200 overseas-owned companies have located here, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Toshiba, Honda, Intel, Orange and Siemens. Traditionally a strong agricultural area, the region now has many leading technology-based businesses in ICT, medical equipment, biotechnology, aerospace and automotive industries, giving the South West a first-class skills base backed by six universities with leading edge R&D skills. As a result the South West is proving itself to be a fast-growth progressive region, and has attracted many of the world’s leading ICT companies, including Hewlett Packard, Ericsson, Motorola and Lucent. Chip design is a particular regional strength.

The labour pool is one of the highest qualified and most loyal in the UK, with one of the lowest absenteeism rates and lowest employee turnover in the UK, coupled with below average compensation packages. Investing companies benefit from very high productivity, low unit labour and low retraining costs. And because the South West of England is regarded as an attractive place to live, attracting and keeping a high quality of staff is never a problem.

Infrastructure
The M4 and M5 connection just outside Bristol provides excellent access north to the Midlands, west to South Wales and east to London and the South East, while the A303 and A30 roads provide access through the ‘tail’ of the South West. Intermodal road/rail freight terminals are being developed in Bristol and Swindon for connections with the Channel Tunnel. Bristol, Plymouth and Poole are major regional ports, with Bristol being the UK’s top car import-export terminal. There are domestic and European airports at Bristol, Bournemouth, Exeter, Newquay and Plymouth.

Many UK financial institutions, including National Westminster Life Assurance and Lloyds Bank have located their headquarters in Bristol to take advantage of both the quality of life and the accessibility offered by the area.

Sunshine and history
Quality of life is a notable attraction. The South West has clean air and water, huge areas of national park, and some of the best-known tourist attractions in Britain, including the ancient sites of Stonehenge, Avebury and Glastonbury, Cotswold stone villages and that surf bonus – attractive compared with a rush-hour commute through the traffic of London or the South East.

The region’s RDA is the South West Regional Development Agency, which provides a coordinated approach for inward investors, and hosts an excellent website of regional information.

Websites:
South West RDA
www.southwestrda.org.uk
Regional gateway
www.southwestengland.co.uk