Invest West of England

Bath & North East Somerset

Bath - A World Heritage Centre

Bath is a unique city with an international profile, a renowned Georgian architecture and heritage centres that attract thousands of visitors every year. Consistently ranked as one of the top tourist destinations in the UK, Bath is not just a World Heritage Site but can also offer stunning countryside, a world class spa complex, renowned restaurants and an unparalleled shopping experience.

A wander around Bath reveals a mix of historic treasures and luxury facilities. The city boasts 5,000 listed buildings, the world famous Roman Baths, a wide range of museums and exhibitions, and immaculate 18th-century townhouses. Bath also benefits from Britain's only natural hot springs and visitors can now enjoy the thermal waters in the new state-of-the-art Thermae Bath Spa that offers a full range of treatments, therapies and steam rooms, not to mention the opportunity to bathe in a spectacular rooftop thermal pool open to the skies.

Throughout the year there is an active programme of events and festivals including Bath's Christmas Market and the International Music festival, and the city is a shoppers paradise thanks to a wide range of smaller specialist and independent shops. The city also benefits from two universities and is home to vibrant high technology and multi-media businesses.

The industrial and social heritage of this old farming and coal mining region is still evident in the town of Radstock yet modern business parks house sophisticated printing and packaging companies and advanced engineering and electronics businesses. To the West the beautiful Chew Valley offers a variety of leisure opportunities and in the Avon Valley the historic market town of Keynsham offers good motorway links as an attraction to new investment.

A number of key development projects are under construction or at planning stage and they will reinforce Bath & North East Somerset's already successful economic base. These will include the regeneration of Western Riverside with new high quality business accommodation and houses, and the redevelopment of SouthGate that will create a new retail quarter in Bath city centre.