Swansea Bay Partnership | Industry Sectors

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Swansea Bay Partnership | Industry Sectors - Manufacturing

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Swansea Bay has seen a rapid transformation from traditional industry to added-value manufacturing. The secret of this success lies in a world class workforce with skills and knowledge that can provide businesses with a competitive edge.

The combination of outstanding productivity, low labour costs, competitive grant packages, high quality sites and property, accessibility to markets and business support all contribute to the region’s success in attracting manufacturing investment

3M	[Case Study]
Calsonic	[Case Study]
Alberto-Culver	[Case Study]
Ford
International Rectifier
Matsushita Electronic Components	[Case Study]


Productivity
Businesses in the Swansea Bay region boast manufacturing productivity at 40% above the UK national average and 30% above the Wales average. This is within a nation which has seen manufacturing output grow by over 13% whilst in the UK as a while it has increased by just 1%.


Workforce
The Swansea Bay area offers a workforce of some 490,000 all within a 45-minute travel to work area and offers an above average percentage of workforce available for employment. Unemployment across the region stands at 4.6% which is above the average for both Wales (3.8%) and the UK (3.2%) (Source: Nomis: July 2001) offering investors a significant pool of available labour. Whilst Wales enjoys the lowest manufacturing labour costs of any UK region, in Swansea Bay you will find labour costs at 13% below the Wales average.


Grants
Another strong incentive for investors is the fact that the region benefits from Objective One status which means the highest level of Government assistance is available for qualifying businesses. Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) is a cash grant designed to support capital expenditure and the creation a safeguarding of jobs. Eligible costs include the purchase of land, site preparation and plant, machinery and buildings. There are also a number of other sources of preferential finance available for expanding businesses.


Sites & Property
On the accommodation front, Swansea Bay has a number of new high quality premises available for immediate occupation. There are also new business parks and new industrial sites with the capacity to accommodate manufacturers in a range of different sectors – most sites are within minutes of the M4 motorway offering easy access to markets.		Baglan Energy Park [Property Details]


Business Support
Swansea Bay supports and encourages rapidly growing manufacturing companies. Well known companies like 3M, Ford, Calsonic and International Rectifier with customers throughout the UK and worldwide have invested and reinvested in the area. But there are many more examples of local companies with a fast growing reputation.		Business Support [Testimonials]

Source Wales
Source Wales is an initiative run by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and has been responsible for building and developing outstanding supplier networks and works by introducing potential suppliers to manufacturers. The initiative also works closely with local suppliers to ensure they are able to meet the exacting standards demanded by blue chip companies.

Industry Fora
To encourage and promote awareness between companies with similar interest, a number of industry fora and networks have been set up in Wales. One such network is the Precision Engineering Forum. This is aimed at improving and developing engineering suppliers in line with the requirements of larger Welsh based manufacturing companies. The South Wales programme is focussed on five large Welsh based customer companies and 16 engineering supply companies with the objective of facilitating and encouraging ‘world class’ customer/supplier relationships.

Industry Sectors - Research & Development - Service - Manufacturing

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