Why the West of England matters

As the northern powerhouses, led by Manchester, push for ever greater economic and political independence, business leaders here in Bristol are pressing forward the opportunities for economic growth in the west

A delegation led by Colin Skellett, Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will unveil a new map, entitled ‘West of England – home of Knowledge, Innovation and Quality of Life,’ to a national audience of politicians and business leaders at the Houses of Parliament on Monday.

In this comment article he explains why the West of England matters.

Did you know that the West of England region has an economy worth £26 billion a year and that we contribute £10 billion of this to the Treasury, more than any other place in the country outside of London?

Economists and policy-makers are agreed that it is the ‘core cities’ that will be the driving force for the UK’s future economic growth. The West of England also happens to be the most productive of the core city LEP regions, providing 2.3% of England’s overall GVA.

If you live in the West of England – which officially comprises the local authority areas of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire – you probably already know what’s great about living and working here.

We have a booming knowledge economy, with 1 in 5 people working in this sector. It’s supported with the third strongest academic cluster in the UK, only behind Oxford and Cambridge .

We have a fantastic culture of innovation that is seeing new and exciting businesses spring up, who see the region as a great test bed for developing next generation technologies or simply outside the box ideas that wouldn’t get the same support elsewhere. We have more start-ups than anywhere else in the UK, and Bristol and Bath are also proudly home to the number one university business incubator in Europe, SETsquared.

To top it all off, we have a quality of life that other parts of the country can only dream about. Bath is the UK’s only UNESCO World Heritage City, we are surrounded by areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the Mendips, Cotswolds and Quantocks, Bristol is European Green Capital, and we are awash with art and culture, festivals, history and heritage. All of this means that people want to live here.

We know the Northern cities are great at shouting about their strengths to government. They’ve been very successful in getting devolved powers and money by being well organised and consistent in their asks.

Our job in the West of England is to show Westminster the full potential of the opportunities here, and ensure that we get our fair share of their investment. They need regions like ours if they are to see the UK flourish in the future. It’s not always a question of he who shouts loudest, but what they have to say. And we have a compelling argument here. The opportunities for providing future sustainable economic growth lie within our boundaries, but the benefits can be felt up and down the country.