South West England
The region is a leading European centre for aerospace, marine and semiconductor design. The largest stretch of protected coastline in the UK contributes to its high standard of living.

Key facts
South West England has Europe's largest concentration of aerospace-related companies, with more than 700 directly engaged in design or manufacture of parts and systems.

• The South West is globally recognised as the European Centre for semiconductor design, with over one third of the UK's designers based in the region

• The region has a strong marine sector with boat building and repair services generating a turnover of £1.3 billion. The sector comprises 2,700 companies employing over 32,000 people

• The South West has some of the UK's fastest growing airports including Bristol, Exeter and Bournemouth. £951 million is earmarked for transport projects, to further improve travel times.

• The environment is one of the richest in the UK, with over 60% of the UK's Heritage Coast, almost half the UK's designated bathing waters, and high proportions of the UK's rarest and most endangered habitats

• The survival rate for businesses is the highest in the UK.

Wales
Small country - Big opportunity. Companies investing in Wales can be guaranteed commitment to innovation and excellence and a friendly and open business environment.

Business facts
Wales has a work force of over 1.3 million talented people, many of them graduates from the country’s 13 universities or colleges, or one of its 25 further education institutions.

The Welsh government is modern, flexible and completely aligned with real business needs, making direct access as easy as possible. Delivery of Amazon’s 244,000m² fulfilment centre, creating over 1,200 jobs, took just 16 months from initial approaches between Amazon and the Welsh Assembly Government to the opening of the mega-facility.

Technium, a network of state-of-the-art facilities across Wales served by the latest information technology and fibre optic bandwidth capabilities, offers the optimum environment to enable knowledge-based start-up and spin-out companies to realise their potential.

Wales is developing a telecommunications network that is already one of the most advanced in the world. BT’s new IP-based twenty-first century network of services is being rolled out in Wales before other parts of the UK, so businesses here will have access to the latest data and voice communications capabilities.

Motorway and rail links mean South Wales is only two hour’s drive from London and Heathrow. This strategic location is underpinned by the presence of advance freight handling facilities for road, rail air and sea.
Wales has a strong commercial property sector – up to a third of the cost of London property – and offers a number of flexible, scalable facilities to provide a UK touchdown for new and incoming companies.

Financial grants and other assistance are available to eligible new businesses through a number of bodies including the National Assembly for Wales, International Business Wales and the European Commission.
An impressive 60 per cent of companies locating in Wales reinvest in their operations there.


West Midlands
The region has a strong history of automotive and aerospace design and manufacture while its central location offers good transport links with the rest of the UK.

Business facts
The West Midlands is located at the hub of the UK’s road and rail network. Seventy-five per cent of the UK’s population is within five hours truck drive and all the major European cities are within 48 hours. Birmingham International Airport (BHX), the second largest airport in the UK outside London, serves over 100 destinations in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.

• The West Midlands has a range of internationally recognised research institutions including expertise in automotive design and development, polymer research, ceramics and science and technology.

• Industry in the West Midlands has particular strengths in the automotive, motorsport and aerospace industries. The region also has a fast-growing service sector with the largest concentration of professional firms outside London.

• Major international firms like Cadbury Schweppes, JCB and Wedgwood started and continue to prosper in the West Midlands, while Fujitsu, Vodaphone and Muller have relocated to the region. Local companies with headquarters in the West Midlands include Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and JCB.

• The region’s business tourism sector is larger than in any other UK region outside of London. Conference facilities such as the NEC, ICC and Telford International Centre are a big draw.

Yorkshire & Humber
As one of Europe's most vibrant and fastest growing business centres, Yorkshire and Humber welcomes and nurtures business from across the globe.

With a regional economy worth over £80bn, one of the largest concentrations of universities in Europe, attracting over £340m of research investment, extensive domestic and international transport links, and multi-million pound investment in high-speed next generation broadband, it's not hard to see why Yorkshire and Humber is the best place for business in the UK. (OMIS Research 2006)

Business facts

• Our GVA of over £80 billion, is large enough to rank us alongside the top 20% of the world's national economies and represents 8% of total UK output.

• Regional GVA is forecast to grow by 10% up to 2010.

• An economy growing faster than the European average.

• Regional growth outstripped European averages five years running.

• Businesses in the region benefit from operating costs up to 20% lower than the UK average, a competitive property market and average salaries 7% below the national average.

• The country's fastest growing creative and digital industry sector outside of London.

• A confident, resilient, manufacturing sector predicted to grow by 20% to £18.5bn in 2016.

• 1,900 foreign owned companies already based in the region.

• Four major cities identified as being some of the best locations in the UK for business.

• Home to the UK's largest and busiest ports complex.

Key business sectors
From healthcare technologies to advanced engineering and materials, cutting edge clean energy solutions to electronics, food processing to e-learning, Yorkshire and Humber is the UK's best location for business to exploit new technologies and market opportunities.



                                                                                      Cecilia Helland