Invest West of England

The West of England

Bristol, Bath and the West of England

The West of England offers leading economic opportunities balanced with an enviable pace and quality of life. The heart of it broadly coincides with the former 'Avon' administrative area, which comprises the four local authorities of the City of Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Connectivity to major commercial centres as well as easy access to the South West peninsula, a world-class knowledge economy and continued investment in infrastructure and regeneration makes this dynamic location an ideal place for businesses to establish and thrive. With a strong economic pull that extends deep into Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and across the two road bridges linking Bristol over the River Severn to South Wales the West of England boasts a travel-to-work population of around 1 million people.

Staying connected is a crucial part of any business strategy and the area is placed within reach of major road, rail and sea destinations. Ready access to the M4 and M5 motorways, means London, Birmingham, Exeter and Cardiff can all be reached within 2 hours by road. Main line, high-speed trains run from the Bristol and Bath-Spa stations enabling easy access to central London, Cardiff and Birmingham in less than 1 hour and 45 mins.

Bristol International Airport is located less than 10 miles from Bristol City Centre and flights go to 27 destinations including major European centres, North Africa, the USA (New York) as well as 17 UK destinations. Ongoing investment has already seen a new 14 million GBP check in extension and 7 million GBP investment in retail and catering facilities.

The Bristol Port Company operates one of the UK's most successful and fastest growing commercial ports, and plans to create a new deep-water container terminal to service the new generation of Ultra Large Container Ships. Bristol is the closest port to the UK population as a whole with 45 million people living within 300kms.