Western Gateway Independent Economic Review update
Hardisty Jones delivered a local economic analysis of the Western Gateway, looking at the area’s economic strengths, challenges, and opportunities. The report works to support and inform future policy direction and economic development for the Western Gateway pan-regional partnership.
In 2021, along with Oxford Economics Hardisty Jones Associates delivered an Economic Position Statement for the Western Gateway pan-regional partnership [1], which was a precursor to the commissioning of a full Independent Economic Review (IER). This provided an analysis of the Western Gateway’s economic strengths, challenges, and opportunities, and considered the economic case for expanding the geographical boundary of the current partnership. In 2024, we delivered an update to the IER assessing the same economic factors to understand how the pan-regional partnership’s economic performance as progressed since the 2021 report.
Hardisty Jones’s 2021 work on the Economic Position Statement provided an evidence base for the geographic construct of the Western Gateway partnership, identifying the functional relationships and key sectors that drive its economy. This was supported by over 40 consultations/interviews with key stakeholders (including UK and Welsh Government, universities, business leaders, and key partners of the Western Gateway) to assess the position, strengths, and weaknesses of the area.
In 2023, the Western Gateway extended its geographical boundaries to include Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire. The IER update concluded the expansion of the boundary has strengthened Western Gateway’s key sectors, particularly in:
- Increasing Western Gateway’s role in the hydrogen economy;
- Supporting manufacturing and R&D activities; and
- Diversifying and strengthening Western Gateway’s renewable energy offer.
In the process of updating the IER, changes to the Western Gateway’s economy and surrounding areas since the previous IER were identified:
- The Western Gateway’s ability to attract investment, its social and spatial inequalities, and environmental challenges and opportunities.
- Five key sectors that will potentially drive the growth of the Western Gateway’s economy: green energy, cyber, aerospace and other advanced manufacturing, creative and digital industries, and fintech.
Our work has assisted Western Gateway with setting future policy direction and informing strategic engagement with UK Government and other stakeholders.
If you would like to talk to us about how we can support your efforts in local economic analysis, please get in touch using the project lead contact details provided below.
[1] The Western Gateway is a pan-regional partnership for South Wales and Western England. https://western-gateway.co.uk/about-western-gateway
