Region
The Great West was forged by one of the UK’s most famous innovators, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who envisioned a highly smart and specialised region powered by creative industrial solutions.
We are the proud inheritors of that vision, with the capability and will to make the UK a global leader in Advanced Engineering and Digital Innovation.
These core strengths were identified by the most definitive evaluation of the region’s research and industry ecosystem: the South West England and South East Wales Science and Innovation Audit.
The report found that our region is home to:
- The strongest aerospace sector in the UK
- The second most productive digital economy in the UK, providing over 67,000 jobs
- The world’s first Compound Semiconductor cluster
- More climate expertise than any other area worldwide
- The UK’s first nuclear power station in a generation
GW4 built on this work to lead the Great West Taskforce (a consortium including LEPs, Welsh Government, major organisations and academic partners Plymouth University and UWE Bristol) to champion research and innovation for the region.
We engage with decision makers in Westminster, Whitehall and Wales to showcase how our region is leading the way in future-facing sectors through research and industry collaboration.
The Western Gateway is a strategic economic partnership across south Wales and the west of England. The partnership consists of Local Authorities, City Regions, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Governments (in Wales and Westminster), working together to achieve economic success, innovation and creativity at scale.
We also provide a platform for great thinking from the Great West: GW4 Opinion. Explore expert commentary from organisations including Oracle, Arts Council England, Renewable UK Cymru, SetSquared and Life Sciences Hub Wales.