Economy:
The South West contributes nearly 8 per cent towards the National GDP and, according to the South West England Development Agency, the former county of Avon contributes some 25 per cent this, with the majority coming from Bristol.

The region's economy is dominated by the service sector, which accounts for three-quarters of employment. Resource-based industries and manufacturing are also important employers and figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs show that some 3.3 per cent of the working population are employed in agriculture, which is close to double the national figure. The region's main areas of employment include Public Administration, Education & Health; Distribution, Hotels & Restaurants, Manufacturing, and Business & Financial Services.

Among the hundreds of international companies that have established themselves in the South West are Chase Manhattan Bank, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard, Honda, Intel, Orange, Siemens and Toshiba.

Figures from Office for National Statistics show that unemployment in the region has been steadily falling and in 2001 the ILO unemployment rate and claimant count rate stood at 3.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. This compares with UK figures for 2001 of 4.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent. In the New Earnings Survey 2001, published by the Office for National Statistics, adult's gross weekly pay in the South West was the 5th highest of the nine regions in the UK.

However, despite the relative prosperity of the South West as a whole there are quite significant variations within the region. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, for example, have been designated an Objective One area for European Union structural funding, because their GDP is less than 75 per cent of the European Union average.

Local Infrastructure:
The South West benefits from an extensive transport infrastructure. The M4, east to west motorway, and the M5, north to south motorway, pass through the region and there are excellent rail links such as the service between London Paddington and Plymouth, which has a journey time of less than three hours. There are also several major ports within the region. The ports of Plymouth and Poole are mainly concerned with roll-on roll-off traffic, while Fowey, Par, Teignmouth and Falmouth are important regional ports for freight transport. Bristol's two main ports of Portbury and Avonmouth are largely responsible for the import and export of cars, forest products and bulk cargo.

According to a report published by the Department for Transport in 2001, the national and international airports located in Bristol, Bournemouth, Exeter, Newquay and Plymouth, handle just under 4 per cent of all aircraft traffic in Great Britain. Bristol is the largest airport in the South West and handled approximately 2.7 million passengers in 2001. London's major airports of Gatwick and Heathrow can also be reached within an hour from the region.

Local Workforce:
The South West is home to a skilled workforce totalling approximately 2.4 million people. There are six universities in the region, providing world class expertise in key technology areas. According to figures for Spring 2001 from the Labour Force Survey, 51.6 per cent of the working population are educated to at least A level standard, while just under 9 per cent have no qualifications at all.

However, according to the State of the Region Report 2002, commissioned by the South West of England Regional Development Agency, businesses in the region face problems with recruitment. In 2001, there were less than 2 people looking for work for every unfilled vacancy, whereas in 1996 there had been 8 people for every vacancy. Recruitment difficulties relating to skills shortages are most pronounced in Associate Professional and Technical occupations such as health professionals and computer analyst professionals.

Business Costs:
Office space in the region is inexpensive when compared with much of the UK. In a survey conducted by City University Business School and Actium Consult in 2001, combined office rental and rate cost in Bristol averaged £292.97 per metre squared per annum. This compares to figures of £350.65 for Manchester, £325.56 for Birmingham, £288.43 for Oxford, £439.92 for Edinburgh, £257.06 for Cardiff and a massive £858.99 for the city of London.