South West England is home to many innovative and successful global companies. It also provides its resident workforce with attractive scenery and lifestyle options. The region’s business and lifestyle environment provides a competitive advantage for recruiting and retaining the best people

A Great Place for Business

Businesses in the South West are among the most productive in the UK, making this the most productive region outside London and the Greater South East.
Bristol has a dynamic and highly skilled workforce, which continues to display strength in terms of its size, occupational mix and levels of qualification.

The population of the Bristol city region is approximately one million and is projected to grow by over 100,000 by 2026. Employers within the city region have access to a 600,000 workforce living within 1 hour’s travel of Bristol.

Bristol has the greatest proportion of highly qualified workers of any comparable English city outside London. In 2007 43.5% of Bristol’s resident working age population in employment were qualified to degree level or above. This was a significant increase from 38.2% in 2005 and is well above the national average at 33.3%. These figures demonstrate that Bristol outstrips rival English cities with its pool of highly qualified workers.

Bristol has more people employed in knowledge intensive businesses (91,100 employees) than Oxford and Cambridge combined according to the Centre for Cities.

The Bristol city region was designated one of six Science Cities by the Government in 2005 in recognition of its outstanding achievements and strengths in science. Each science city has unique strengths and challenges but all are working to use their science city status to drive economic development through science and technology and to improve linkages within the scientific community.

The Bristol city region hosts four prestigious universities (University of Bristol, University of the West of England, University of Bath and Bath Spa University). Approximately 17,000 students graduate annually from the four universities. These education institutions offer a wide range of courses and promote strong links with local businesses. Bristol’s graduates demonstrate a high propensity to stay in the city to pursue careers and the city’s working population shows a strong inclination to get involved in work related training.

A Great Quality of Life

South West England is a wonderful place to live and work. Not only is this region home to innovative and successful global companies but it also offers some of the most attractive scenery and lifestyle options to its residents and visitors alike.

The region’s two National Parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, cover 1,600 square kilometres and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) cover approximately a fifth of the region. The South West Coast Path, probably England’s most beautiful and diverse national trail, provides residents and visitors with an unsurpassed natural resource. The Dorset and East Devon coast (Jurassic Coast) was declared a World Heritage Site in December 2001.

Bristol is the top UK city for quality of life according to the 2009 Sustainable Cities Index published by Forum for the Future. Its residents and visitors enjoy a superb quality of life with doorstop access to a vibrant and cosmopolitan European city.

Bristol city centre presents shoppers with an excellent choice of high quality stores, chic boutiques and independent shops. It hosts a diverse and enticing collection of cafes, bars, restaurants, markets, festivals and events, theatre, concert venues, cinema, arts and media centres, museums and galleries and other cultural amenities.These are interspersed by attractive open spaces, a wonderful network of waterways, the harbourside quarter, and an unique architectural mix.

A beautiful natural environment lies within easy reach of the city centre including the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean, Cheddar Gorge, the Mendip hills and the seaside attractions of Weston, Clevedon and the north Devon coastline. Along with Exmoor, Dartmoor and Wales on our doorstep there’s an abundance of places to explore and outdoor activities to enjoy.

For our address in Bristol, please see the Contact Us page.