Wales was catapulted to the top of the class for its share of jobs created by inward investment in the UK last year.
Job numbers rose from 11.9% the previous year to 16%. This is quite an achievement for a part of the country that has only 5% of the total UK population.
Over the past 20 years, £13bn has been invested in the country, of which 40% was reinvestment by companies wishing to boost their Welsh-based operations, says the Welsh Development Agency.
So what it is about the principality – which since devolution in 1999 has had its own government – that attracts so many job-creating new businesses and creates the right environment in which they can expand?
Wales has a population of 2.9m and a population density per sq mile of just over half the UK average. This gives some clue as to why lifestyle is often cited as an attraction for businesses. Based in the south of region, capital city Cardiff forms the centre of the most densely populated parts of the principality, together with Swansea and Newport.
In the north, Wrexham is the principal town. The working population of the region totals just over 1m people.
Those companies that have already set up in Wales often cite availability of skilled labour as the reason for their investment.
For example, international IT and telecoms outsourcing company LogicaCMG announced last year that it was to expand its Bridgend-based operation, which will create 750 jobs in the process.
Jim McKenna, LogicaCMG’s chief executive, UK & Ireland, says: “The availability of highly qualified staff produced by the education system in south Wales was a key factor in deciding where to establish a central ‘sourcing hub’ for LogicaCMG.”
The importance of available skills is something the WDA is very aware of. During the 28 years the agency has been working to attract new businesses, it has seen availability of staff replace property as the number one concern for inward investors.
“Wales does have a big advantage. It does not have the recruitment problems of, say, London. There is a higher level of unemployment than the South East and a high number of graduates,” says Mike Hnyda, international services director at WDA.
He also points out that wages are competitive, particularly in the call centre/shared services sectors, where pay is about 12% less than the UK average. “This is a big advantage to companies with big back office functions,” he adds.
And while property may have slipped down the list of priorities for inward investors it is, nonetheless, an important consideration. Wales’ history of primary manufacturing has left it with industrial space and sites ripe for redevelopment. However, there is competition from residential developers, which are snapping up sites at premiums way above what industrial usage would attract.
The office market has seen out-of-town developments dominate. This is particularly true in locations that have easy access to the M4.
The biggest challenge that Wales faces, according to the WDA, is changing the principality’s image. Hnyda says: “There is still a very odd perception that we are stuck back in a time when our economy was based on primary industry.”
With areas of speciality such as aerospace – which employs over 20,000 people – automotive components, financial services, call centres, life sciences, IT, software and multimedia, Wales can only shout louder about what it has to offer.
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With its snow-capped mountains in the north, green valleys in the south and an abundance of beaches, the sort of lifestyle that could be enjoyed in Wales isn’t that hard to imagine. But what is the reality of living and working in such picturesque countryside? Those from Wales are obviously a little bit biased but their enthusiasm does count for something. Mike Hnyda, international services director at the WDA in Cardiff, was born in Wales but has lived in London and the North of England. He says: “I travel 30 miles into Cardiff and live by the beach, where my boys go surfing and you can be in the Brecon Beacons within half an hour.” Enthusiasm for Wales Although he admits that the roads in Cardiff can get busy during rush hour, he believes that the commute is still easier than in other cities. John James of Fletcher Morgan in Cardiff is equally enthusiastic about living in Wales but points out that it is not just the locals who appreciate it. He cites the case of company Chemical Bank, which moved to south Wales in the 1980s. He says the 200-strong management team were given the option to return to the South East after three years but only a handful took up the offer. Welsh culture is strong and nowhere more so than in capital Cardiff, where the completion of the Millennium Stadium six years ago resulted in the city hosting the Rugby Union World Cup in 1999. The Welsh are also renowned for singing and the Queen recently opened the £125m Wales Millennium Centre, which will be the home of the Welsh National Opera. Like many of the UK’s cities, the past 10 years have seen a revival in city-centre living. Research by Knight Frank shows that residential development has been particularly strong in Cardiff and focused on Cardiff Bay. The success of the area can be attributed to the construction of a barrage across the mouth the bay, which means water levels are maintained at low tide. |
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● The M4 connects with the M50 and the M5, making for easy access to the Midlands, the North and South West of England ● Cardiff is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from central London ● Cardiff is a two-hour train journey away from Paddington, central London, and is served by 20 train services a day ● Cardiff International Airport is half an hour’s drive from Cardiff and serves routes within the UK and Europe. There are some direct international flights to popular holiday destinations, but most places can be reached via Schipol Airport in the Netherlands ● Bristol, Heathrow and Birmingham airports are also accessible from South Wales and Manchester airport is easily reached from North Wales ● Around 60m tonnes of goods a year are moved through Wales’ nine main ports — 10-12% of the UK’s total. |
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