A message from Michael L’Estrange, Australian High Commissioner to the UK

Australia will warmly welcome the English, Scottish and Welsh teams participating in Rugby World Cup 2003, as well as their many supporters. It will be a time to celebrate together not only the long and rich Rugby tradition we share but also the strong and diverse associations across so many other areas of activity. The Rugby competitiveness among us will be intense and uncompromising. But the broader context of our sporting contests is one that features the close ties of our history, the exciting future opportunities we share and the special links between our people. In both business and sport, Australia and the United Kingdom combine close partnership with unrivalled competition. The dynamism of our trade and investment links speaks for itself: the UK is our fourth largest overall trading partner, our second largest source of foreign investment and the second most significant destination for Australian investment overseas. More than a thousand Australian companies are active in the UK. At all levels of sport in the UK – whether it be managing, coaching or playing – the Australian influence is prominent. Some Australians are seen as rivals to beat, while others are contributing importantly to the pursuit of sporting excellence in the UK as coaches, players and administrators. What better way could there be to make the most of the unique relationship we share than to combine business with sport by attending Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia and using the services of Rugby Business Club Australia to help you identify the many trade and investment partnership opportunities avail-able to you? The Rugby will be too good to miss – so too will be the business opportunities! Website: www.australia.org.uk

Unlike Scotland and Wales, it is sometimes hard to separate England from the United Kingdom as a distinct entity. With regions of such diverse culture, from the Viking north-east to the Anglo-Saxon south-west, laced with all the multicultural mix of a former Empire, it is perhaps only on the sports field that England today presents a united front to the world.

Regional pride, however, knows no such bounds. The UK’s regions operate independent development authorities which compete for investment and trade, sending regular trade missions to Australia and the Asia Pacific.

The capital
Starting, as most visitors do, with London, the UK’s capital tops the polls as Europe’s business capital for finance, e-business, research, and more. Its economy accounts for more than 15% of the UK’s GDP, larger than the economies of Ireland, Portugal or Greece.

It isn’t a cheap city – prices are well above the UK average – but costs compare favourably with other global business centres such as Tokyo or Geneva, especially given London’s world strengths in shipping and in particular shipbroking, software, marketing, media and creative services. The city’s financial sector has more foreign banks than any other city in the world. It accounts for more global foreign exchange trading than New York and Tokyo combined, and hosts 65% of international trade in equities.

As a consequence of all this activity, London attracts more inward investment than any other city in Europe.

The South East
Far and away the largest UK region outside London, the South East is a world-renowned centre for IT (hardware, software, e-business and multimedia), telecommunications and mobile comms. Indeed the South East accounts for more than 25% of UK business R&D expenditure, and more than a third of government R&D. The service sector dominates activities in the region, with strong financial and business sectors.

While many regions in the UK boast good logistics and access to European markets, it’s hard to top a region that offers London Heathrow, London Gatwick, the Channel Tunnel, and the ports of Southampton, Portsmouth and Dover.

East of England
Moving north, the East of England boasts Europe’s most significant clusters of life sciences, ICT and research. Cambridge is internationally renowned for its university and science/research parks; Ipswich is home to Europe’s highest concentration of telecoms R&D engineers; Norwich has a multimedia cluster led by Adobe.

Comprehensive transport logistics include the UK’s largest deepwater container port at Felixstowe, and Tilbury, the main port serving London. There are four international airports based in the East of England: London Stansted, London Luton, Norwich and Cambridge airports.

Other areas of growth and strength include electronics, business and financial services, automotive components, engineering and offshore industry, and there are opportunities for Australian complementarities in food production and processing.

East Midlands
Next north up the M1 (or A1) is the East Midlands, where the region’s central location and a high-tech industrial base have produced rapid growth. Modern, high-tech industries are well represented in engineering, electronics, food processing, pharmaceuticals, automotive components and clothing and footwear industries.
Both of the UK’s major north-south roads – the M1 and A1 – pass through the region, putting 99% of the UK market within one day by road. East Midlands Airport is one of the UK’s largest air cargo gateways, with excellent air freight facilities.

The regional workforce is flexible and highly skilled. The University of Nottingham is one of the ‘top four’ research universities, Leicester University is a pharmacology and biochemistry research leader, and there is a food research centre at the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside.

Yorkshire and the Humber
More than 1500 overseas companies operate out of Yorkshire and Humber. The region boasts traditional skills in metals, engineering, fishing, agriculture and textiles, and these form the foundation for growth sectors in automotive components, medical equipment, electronics, printing and packaging, food and telecommunications.

Grimsby boasts around 1000 food manufacturing businesses, and a further 2500 engaged in storage, distribution and wholesale. The region also boasts 10% of the UK’s chemicals output. The Grimsby Europarc Innovation Centre provides a focus for innovation and support in both chemicals and food sectors, while the Humber Trade Zone initiative aims to maximise assets of the Humber estuary, home to a large proportion of the region’s chemical companies.

The University of Sheffield is world-renowned for its engineering research, supporting the region’s advanced engineering and metals sector, encompassing industries from steel processing to aerospace and automotive.

Digital industries are also a growth sector in the region, while Leeds is England’s main financial centre outside London, with almost 200 law firms, and more than 230 accountancy firms, including 16 of the UK’s 20 largest.

North East
On the east coast of England, facing Northern Europe and Scandinavia, the North East offers an emerging European location for biotech, nanotechnology, ICT and new digital media. World-renowned strengths in automotive, chemicals, engineering, offshore technology and food processing are being transformed by a strong infrastructure supporting a knowledge-driven economy.

Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology have a long-established presence backed by multinational companies, while the University of Newcastle has one of the largest biomedical science schools in the UK, linked closely to the city’s three teaching hospitals. Other universities include the University of Sunderland, home to the UK’s largest pharmacy school and the highly successful School of Health Sciences, and the University of Northumbria, with a £42m purpose-built campus dedicated to nursing training and education. The University of Durham’s biological sciences department is a centre of excellence in fields including biochemistry and genetic engineering.

Five new centres of excellence will highlight the world-class strengths of the North East in five high-technology areas: life sciences, digital technology and media, new and renewable energies, process industries, and nanotechnology.

Comprehensive transport and communications networks cover the region, linking it with the rest of the UK, Europe and Scandinavia through two international airports, five deep sea ports and excellent road and rail links.

South West
The South Western tail of England may be known to many Australians 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. Quality of life attracts many to the South West, where ancient stones sit side by side with major flagship regeneration projects across the region, including 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. Chip design is a particular regional strength.

North West
The largest UK region outside London and the South East, the two main cities of Liverpool and Manchester are ringed by a necklace of vigorous smaller cities, towns, new towns and business parks, set in attractive landscapes.

Strong international links are supported by Manchester Airport, the biggest outside London, and the Port of Liverpool, the UK’s premier port for trade with North America and Ireland, with the fastest sea link between North America and Europe. Access to Europe is quick and easy through east coast ports, road or rail.
Manufacturing still ac-counts for 23% of the region’s output, and the depth of available manufacturing and specialist skills is exceptional. The North West is the UK’s third largest automotive region, while the Mersey Valley and Cheshire form a leading centre of the UK chemicals industry, responsible for around a quarter of the UK’s chemical employment and output.

Birmingham: a rejuvenated city and key business

West Midlands
A rejuvenated Birmingham leads the West Midlands as distribution hub, conference and business mecca.
Birthplace of the industrial revolution, the region includes Birmingham and the urban areas of Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, but also the rural counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

The West Midlands is currently the UK’s most successful inward investment region, and is among the top five in Europe. Many manufacturing businesses – a key regional strength – have diversified from traditional markets (the automotive sector in particular), into plastics and rubber, electronics and telecommunications, food and drink, jewellery, glass and leather.

Growth in the service sector has been the fastest of any UK region, particularly in retail and distribution – all major national multiple retailers have distribution centres in the West Midlands. Other growing service areas include business services, particularly strong in Birmingham, the UK’s second city, which regularly attracts more than 40% of the UK’s entire conference business.

Austrade London
Telephone:
+44 20 7632 0000
Fax:
+44 20 7632 0098
Email: info@austrade.gov.au
Website: www.austrade.gov.au