Home to approximately 5m people, equivalent to 8.6% of the UK‘s population, the south-west has seen over 300,000 people migrate into it from elsewhere in the UK over the past decade. The region clearly has a magnetic pull, experiencing a population growth that far outstrips the rest of the country.
Stretching from the rolling Cotswold Hills of Gloucestershire, east as far as Swindon and down to the golden, sandy beaches of Cornwall (encompassing Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon), the region offers a tremendous work/life balance. It has the necessary infrastructure, educational facilities and urban hubs needed to offer effective support to businesses and provides a great quality of life, with its temperate climate, low commuting times and rewarding leisure activities.
The statistics clearly back up the sound bites, with a 93% survival rate for businesses trading in their first year (the highest rate in the UK). The region is very receptive to new ventures and has a strong entrepreneurial spirit, reflected by the high number of small businesses in the area.
But it is not only small, innovative firms that are being attracted to the region. Companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Hewlett Packard, Orange, Honda, Airbus, Motorola and BAE Systems are all global enterprises operating out of the region. Companies like these demand easy access to skilled and motivated workforces, low overheads and an advanced supply structure.
Beating the skills shortage
Employment in south-west England is strong, with current figures well above the UK average at 78.5%, ensuring employees have access to a large and dynamic skills base. Over 27% of the population are educated to degree standard or above and a further 24% of the working population are in job-related training.
With strong employment and an appealing skills base, the south-west is perfectly placed to tackle the skill shortages that blight many sectors within UK industry, such as construction and marine. The region boasts some of the UK‘s leading universities at Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Exeter and the University of West of England, which have a variety of specialist departments offering world-leading research into sectors such as communication, advanced engineering, materials and bio-technology. As well as providing the region with skilled labour, many partnerships formed between education and industry work together to drive substantial research projects in the south-west.
Educational facilities aimed at advancing specific industry sectors play an important part in this trend. Marine skills centres, for example, were created to help support the marine industry and offer trainees the ability to expand their skills base. By setting up a reserve, the region is able to offer companies a wide range of skilled graduates who have a firm understanding of the business environment.
Staying in touch
When starting a business, quick and easy access to potential customers is essential and the south-west is easily reached by road, rail, air and sea. It has an extensive road network of over 3,100 miles and major motorways such as the M5 and the M4, meaning 52% of England is only a two-hour drive away or under.
The last few years have seen a marked increase in work-related rail travel and the region also offers easy rail links to the rest of the UK and Europe. The south-west also has an impressive number of airports within easy reach, with flight hubs in Plymouth, Exeter, Bournemouth, Newquay and Bristol, meaning destinations such as Glasgow or Paris can now be reached in under an hour. Most other European cities and the USA can also be reached by direct flights from the region‘s airports. With Bristol International airport named as the second fastest growing airport in the UK and passenger numbers expected to reach 8m by 2015, this trend is only expected to continue.
The region is as strong by sea as it is by air, rail or road with a number of key ports in the region. Bristol‘s port concentrates on importing and exporting cars and bulk cargos, while ports in Plymouth, Poole, Fowey, Par, Teignmouth and Falmouth all provide roll-on, roll-off traffic. This positions the area as a logistics hub for freight transport and, with shipping being the most environmentally and cost-friendly form of transport, it‘s an important consideration for new businesses looking to export.
One entrepreneur who found the location to be just right was Julian Dunkerton, founder of Cult Clothing, a company that started life as a small stall on local markets in Cheltenham. Over the last 20 years, it has grown to 12 shops across the UK and a global wholesale business. “South-west England has a thriving entrepreneurial community and new ventures are more welcomed here than elsewhere,” says Dunkerton. “If I had stayed in London and launched there, I would have been squashed by a number of factors.”
But no matter how conducive a location is to growth, many businesses struggle to get off the ground without initial funding and business support. The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) and its partners have the goal of bringing lasting economic success to the region by helping businesses become more competitive and profitable. SWRDA give independent business advice and can also help those people starting a business to gain access to a number of sources of finance, including capital grants from Selective Finance for Investment or the SW Venture fund.
The South West Investors Network has also been created to match companies with investors.
The right balance
Research shows that employees who are content in their work are more productive and less likely to go off sick, an important consideration for any new business. South-west England offers both employers and employees a great work/life balance, with four of the region‘s counties coming in the top six of a UK poll on the best place in which to live and work. In addition to this, a 2005 Wellbeing@Work study found that the region had the UK‘s highest levels of work satisfaction and motivation.
The quality of life for the region‘s workers is helped by an average daily commute of just 22 minutes, a third of the time it takes the average London commuter. Add to this the wealth of shopping and food opportunities, and it‘s no wonder that the south-west enjoys the highest relocation rate of professional people in the country.
But it‘s outdoors where south-west England really excels. With a wide range of beautiful locations including rolling hills, moors, forests, cliffs and beaches, the region has it all and inhabitants can indulge in activities ranging from tranquil walks, nature-spotting, watching a hard-fought match at one of the many championship rugby grounds or taking part in the latest extreme sport such as kite-surfing or mountain-boarding. And with its temperate climate and more hours of sunshine than anywhere else in the UK, the region can be appreciated all year round.
For those starting a business, the south-west has the ideal mix of infrastructure and existing businesses, with attractive start-up costs and skilled workers, as well as support and guidance. But, added to this, it holds the key to a truly balanced lifestyle offering both employers and employees a high quality of life and workplace satisfaction. And that‘s good news for entrepreneurs.