South West England: An at a glance guide

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The South West has the best business survival rate in Britain. [Source: Office of National Statistics 2005]. There are more self-employed people here than anywhere else in the country.

Employee Motivation: Workers in the South West enjoy the UK’s highest levels of happiness, motivation and pleasure in their surroundings. [Source: 2005 wellbeing@work survey]

Size: The South West of England is the largest region in the UK. It extends over 23,851 square miles, from the south-western tip of Cornwall to the northern border of Gloucestershire and the eastern borders of Dorset and Wiltshire.

Overseas Businesses: There are more than 1500 overseas businesses in the region, including major internationals like AOL, HP, Lucent Technologies, Orange, Siemens and Toshiba.

Commuting: The average commute in the South West is 22 minutes, compared to 55 minutes for central London. More people in this region walk or cycle to work than anywhere else in the UK [Source: Department for Transport, Regional Transport Statistics]

Quality of Life: The South West is consistently ranked among the best places in Europe to live. A recent survey placed the South West top of all nine English regions, emphasising low stress levels and high contentment at work and home. [Source: Financial Times]. This quality of life acts as a magnet for highly qualified people from all over the UK and the world. The South West has the highest life expectancy of any English region. [Source: Office of National Statistics, Life Expectancy]. It is one of the safest places to live with the second lowest regional rate of recorded crime in England and Wales reported in 2006/7.

Qualifications: More than 25% of the region’s population is qualified to NVQ Level 4 or above. Over 27% of the population is educated to degree standard or above. Attainment at GCSE and A-level is among the highest in the UK.

Research and Development: The region spends 10% more on R&D than the UK average. [Source: Office of National Statistics 2005]. The region has internationally significant research institutions in the fields of biotechnology, aeronautics, food and drink, nuclear power, water technology and mining. Toshiba’s European research centre is based in Bristol.

Climate: The South West enjoys the mildest climate in the UK.

Skills: The South West has a higher proportion of employees in high level occupations (37%) than anywhere else in the UK. 24% of employees in the region are in job-related training – the highest number in the UK.

Population: The population of the South West is around 5 million and increasing all the time. Between 1981 and 2001, the population grew by 12.5%, faster than anywhere else in the UK. This increase was fuelled almost entirely by inward migration. In 2007/8 over half of the inward migration was from London and the South East. [Source: Inter-regional Migration Movements]

Geography: The South West has 1,000km of coastline and some of the UK’s most spectacular scenery.  Over 91% of land in the South West (approx. 13.2 million hectares) was classified as green space in 2001 – the highest of any region in England. [Source: Government Office South West]. Over a third of the region is designated as National Park or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and nowhere is more than 50 miles from the sea

Universities and Colleges: There are nine universities, 40 Further Education colleges, 14 Higher Education Institutes in the region. Around 197,000 students are in Further Education and there are 140,000 in Higher Education.

Employment: 62.4% of the adult population is currently in employment, providing a total current workforce of 2,205,000. In March 2007, the unemployment rate for the South West was 3.9% - the lowest of any region in the UK. [Source: Labour Force Survey, Office of National Statistics]

Labour Costs: Labour costs are typically 5% lower here than the UK average.

Productivity: The South West is the most productive region in the UK outside London and the Greater South East. [Source: Office of National Statistics, Regional GVA] Advanced engineers are a massive 31% more productive than their counterparts in the rest of the UK.

Density: Despite being the largest region in England, the South West has the lowest population density. [Source: South West Observatory]

Economy: The South West’s economy is worth £90 billion a year. Over the last six years it has been the fastest growing UK region after London. [Source: Office of National Statistics 2006].

Affluence: Gross Disposable Household Income in the region is the highest outside the Greater South East. [Source: Office of National Statistics, Regional Disposable Household Income] There is a higher proportion of car ownership in the region than the average for England as a whole. [Source: Department for Transport, Transport Statistics Bulletin]

Infrastructure: The South West has one of the UK’s most rapidly expanding air transport networks. Bournemouth grew by 46% in 2002 and Exeter has recently doubled its capacity. Bristol airport has flights to 330 destinations worldwide. The M5 and M4 motorways link the region to the rest of the UK and 85% of the country is within a four hour drive. There is a fast rail network. Bristol Port is one of the UK’s most successful and fastest growing ports.

Connectivity: The region enjoys 100% connectivity, with more fibre optic cables than any other part of the UK.

Tourism: The South West attracts more foreign visitors than anywhere outside London and is the recognised holiday destination of Britain. Each year over 22.5 million visitors from around the world come here to share the outstanding environment. [Source: South West Tourism] In 2005, tourism contributed £4.7 billion to the region’s economy. [Source: UK Tourism survey]. Top tourist destinations include the Eden Project, Bath, Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast. The region has some of the UK’s finest surfing and plays host to international surfing championships.

Key Clusters: There are world class clusters for a wide range of industries including: Aerospace, Environmental Technologies, Creative Industries, Biotechnologies and Biomedical, ICT, Service Industries, Marine, Food and Drink, Nano and Micro technologies, and Advanced Engineering.

If you have a question that doesn't appear above, or need a more detailed answer, then please let us know, contact us.