GUEST COLUMN:
Jon Burnes
Portfolio Director
Swansea Bay City Deal
Businesses rarely think in terms of individual projects. They look for ecosystems — places where talent, infrastructure, innovation, finance and supply chains come together to support growth. South West Wales is increasingly developing those ingredients. The next step is ensuring they are connected in a way that strengthens the wider regional economy.
South West Wales is not short of ambitious projects. Across Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire, investment is creating new spaces for business, research, tourism, digital innovation, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy.
The next step is to connect those investments in a way that strengthens the wider regional economy. The Swansea Bay City Deal is helping to provide that foundation through a portfolio of projects worth over £1.3 billion. Some are highly visible, including Swansea Building Society Arena, the Innovation Matrix, the Bay Technology Centre and the infrastructure at Pembroke Dock Marine. Others are creating the skills, digital connectivity and low-carbon capability that businesses will need in order to grow.
Taken individually, each project has value. Their greater economic strength comes from the connections between them.
A new building is not an end in itself. The success of an innovation space lies in the businesses that occupy it, the jobs they create and the relationships they build with universities, investors, researchers and other companies.
We can already see that happening. The Innovation Matrix in Swansea’s SA1 district is bringing businesses and researchers together alongside the University of Wales Trinity St David, while 71/72 Kingsway is providing modern workspace for digital and creative companies in the city centre. Both have attracted strong levels of occupancy, showing that there is demand for the kind of high-quality space being created.
The arena demonstrates a different part of the same picture. It has brought more people into Swansea, supported the city’s visitor economy and helped connect the city centre more closely with the waterfront. Further development around Copr Bay, alongside planned office, retail, leisure and accommodation projects, can build on that momentum.
The wider region is developing comparable strengths in other sectors. Pentre Awel in Llanelli and the National Institute for Sports and Health in Swansea are connecting clinicians, researchers, students, public bodies and businesses around health, life sciences and technology.
Pembroke Dock Marine, in conjunction with the Celtic Freeport and related investment across Neath Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire are laying foundations for future growth in marine energy, floating offshore wind, decarbonisation and advanced manufacturing. Yr Egin in Carmarthen provides a focus for the creative industries, while regional programmes in skills, digital infrastructure and Homes as Power Stations support activity across all four counties.
The scale of business engagement is already considerable. Across City Deal projects, there have been more than 41,000 business interactions, generating around 1,500 active leads and a substantial number of companies becoming directly involved in projects.
That level of activity shows how much is already happening, but it also highlights the importance of making the regional offer easier to understand and navigate.
Businesses do not experience the economy through strategies or organisational boundaries. They need to know where they can find suitable premises, finance, skilled people, digital connectivity, research support and routes into new supply chains. The more clearly those elements are connected, the easier it becomes for a company to invest, expand or establish itself here.
The same applies to inward investors. South West Wales is competing with regions across the UK and internationally, so it must be able to present a coherent proposition. High-quality infrastructure, strong universities, emerging growth sectors, available skills and a collaborative business community all contribute to that offer, but they need to be presented as one connected package.
Collaboration is one of the region’s strongest assets. Local authorities, universities, health boards, businesses and public agencies are already working together across the City Deal. That approach can help investors move more quickly from initial interest to practical action, whether they need property, recruitment support, supply-chain partners or access to specialist expertise.
Floating offshore wind provides perhaps the clearest illustration of why this joined-up approach is needed. The opportunity will extend far beyond the manufacture and installation of turbines. It will involve port infrastructure, maintenance, digital monitoring, marine engineering, research, training and a wide range of professional and technical services over several decades.
South West Wales will not capture every element immediately, but it can prepare deliberately for the areas where it already has expertise and where new capability can be developed. The work under way in Pembrokeshire, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea and Carmarthenshire should not be viewed as separate strands, because each strengthens the region’s ability to compete for future investment and supply-chain activity.
The City Deal was designed to create infrastructure and economic capacity across the region. Its long-term impact will be determined by how effectively we connect the buildings, businesses, skills, research and investment now taking shape.
The pieces are increasingly visible. Our task is to make sure they function as one regional economy, giving businesses the confidence and support to grow and giving investors a clear reason to choose South West Wales.
If we can connect our innovation assets, skills system, supply chains and investment opportunities more effectively, South West Wales will not simply be a region with successful projects. It will be a region with a distinctive competitive advantage.
