Exceptional infrastructure and logistics support the UK’s largest region outside London.

	Area:	19,096 sq km
	Population:	8.1m
	Regional GDP³	£122.0bn
	Exports to EU³	£15.5bn
	Exports outside EU³	£12.2bn
	Unemployment‡	3.1%
	Industrial property cost*	147.4
	Office rental cost**	109.4
	% of exports to Asia/Oceania³	12.1%
	Foreign manufacturing investment²	£862m
	UK manufacturing investment²	£1286m
	R&D expenditure³	£2916m
	Gross Value Added per employee¹	£40,100
	Export value per employee³	£7799
	Average earnings per hour³ (male)	£11.80
	Average earnings per hour³ (female)	£9.40
	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 economy of the South East is critical to the performance of the UK as a whole. It is far and away the largest UK region outside London, significantly larger than some countries in the EU in terms of population, workforce and GDP. In recent years it has seen more growth than any of its surrounding regions and has closed the gap on London’s lead. With 230,000 companies, 3500 of which are foreign owned, the region includes some highly productive areas – per capita GDP in the western county of Berkshire, for example, is more than 30% above the UK average. It is also a major force in the nation’s R&D – the South East accounts for more than 25% of UK business R&D expenditure and more than a third of government R&D – a major regional resource.

International gateway
The South East’s high proportion of foreign-owned companies are attracted by exceptional infrastructure, with excellent transport and logistics advantages in particular. While many regions in the UK boast good communications links, it’s hard to top a region that offers London Heathrow, London Gatwick, the Channel Tunnel and the ports of Southampton, Portsmouth and Dover. Around a quarter of the UK’s motorways provide access around the region and to the rest of the country, while there is a major concentration of transport and logistics operations based in Kent, due to its close proximity to Europe. The South East is the UK’s principal international gateway.

Key sectors
The region is a world-renowned centre for IT (hardware, software, e-business and multimedia), telecommunications and mobile communications, with Nokia constructing an R&D centre at Farnborough and Ericsson investing in a UMTS testing centre. IT companies in the South East include Microsoft, Oracle, Computer Associates, Hitachi, Compaq and Dell.

The world’s top 12 pharmaceutical companies all have operations either within the region or just outside, a sign of the region’s strengths in this sector, biotechnology and other life sciences. The successful science park at Oxford University, the region’s uncontested educational leader, has become a centre for pharmaceuticals, life sciences and software.

The South East employs around a quarter of all UK aerospace employees, concentrated around Farnborough and led by BAE Systems. The region also boasts motorsport expertise – most of the world’s F1 and Indy cars are developed in the South East. The region’s strong automotive production sector is based mainly in Southampton, Cowley and Kent, which is also home to many automotive component manufacturers.

The service sector, which dominates activities in the region, is particularly notable for its world-class financial and business services. There is also growth in the outsourcing of non-core activities by both manufacturing and service industries, with businesses of all sizes increasingly using strategic alliances.

Workforce
Wage levels and high employment attract a high quality workforce to the South East of England – its labour force is the most qualified in the UK, with a relatively high proporation of managerial and professional workers.

The region’s 100+ universities, further education and research centres provide still more qualified employees – 89,000 graduates in 1999.

The South East England Regional Development Agency (SEEDA) is the main investment agency responsible for promoting the region.

Websites:
South East England Development Agency www.seeda.co.uk
Government office, South East www.go-se.gov.uk