The Swansea Bay area has had enjoyed mixed fortunes over the centuries, but Glyn Mon Hughes finds a partnership approach is pushing the region ahead of its competitors.
It's not often a second city claims first place in the business pecking order. But that's what Swansea has done, earning the accolade of the most successful city in Wales - and fourth best in the whole of the UK - for new business growth. Not bad for a region which has suffered more than its fair share of economic hardship. For Swansea, and the whole of its hinterland, has been on an economic rollercoaster for a couple of centuries.
Copperopolis, as it was known at one time, provided the world with more than enough of the orange metal to meet its needs. The docks were once the world's biggest coal exporter. But enemy aggression in World War II devastated the city, along with its docks and local industries. Undaunted, a phoenix-like rise from the ashes in the 1960s created a city centre which was a buzzing, vibrant honeypot for shoppers, office workers and those out for a good time.
The industrial shake-out of the 1970s, 80s and 90s left Swansea licking its wounds, but now things are on the up, thanks to positive initiatives such as the Swansea Bay Partnership. This organisation looks far beyond the dramatic sweep of the bay itself, taking in an area stretching from Pembrey in the west to Porthcawl in the east.
The organisation involves four public bodies - Carmarthenshire County Council, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and the City of Swansea, along with the Welsh Assembly.
"Each body has differing roles and skills," says Jamie Reynolds, business development officer of Carmarthenshire County Council. "The overall objective revolves around economic development and promotion of the region as a whole.
"The roles are varied, however, and include trading at a local and international level, specific marketing of key employment sites and developing future business development products for companies based in the region. All key activities are now undertaken on a regional basis rather than on an individual authority boundary basis."
Integration was very much the thinking behind the original European Objective One-funded vision for the Swansea Bay Waterfront and Valleys. That vision seeks to help the area realise its potential as a sustainable and integrated city-region by 2021, examining social, health, transport and skill issues to help people become economically active. Central to the thinking are institutions such as Swansea University, which will help develop the economy and identify skill shortages which could slow the area's economic growth.
Proof that things are moving in the region's favour comes from figures showing an increase in Swansea's business community, which grew by 3.3 per cent between March and August 2007, compared to a 2.4 per cent increase in the UK's average business population, according to the Royal Mail Business Barometer league table.
"It reflects the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of Swansea," said Hywel Evans, chairman of Swansea Business Forum which includes both the IoD and CBI. "If that growth can be sustained, it points to a very promising future. There's the old adage that if you saw a crane in the sky, it was a sign of progress. Now there are cranes everywhere. And the whole mood of the business community is changing.
"In five years, Swansea will be a changed place. There are iconic buildings going up and new jobs are being created. And once people are here, they stay as we have lots to offer in terms of working and living environment. Areas outside the city are also picking up. The Swansea Valley, for instance. It's good news all round."
That's a view echoed by Reynolds, who points to internet giant Amazon's 800,000 sq ft distribution centre under construction at the city's Jersey Marine site. "There are a number of notable projects just completed," he says. "Others include a Business Finance scheme to be offered to businesses across Swansea Bay which will come on stream in the next few months. We've just completed our Swansea Bay Woman of the Year event and we're currently planning a trade mission to Quebec for our exporting companies in the Bay."
The new sense of economic purpose was summed up by Swansea's Evening Post newspaper.
"South West Wales may not be a hotbed of entrepreneurship and financial growth," they opined, "but there are signs that it is developing a varied and more resilient economic base than the heavy industries of years gone by.
"Economic security of a region has to be based on a tapestry of home-grown smaller businesses building the confidence that will attract external investors."
One of the central building blocks in the new strategy for South West Wales is the Technium concept, first conceived in Swansea at the turn of the millennium. The first Technium Centre at SA1 Swansea Waterfront was completed in 2001. Supported by the Welsh Assembly and the European Union, Technium provides specialist incubation facilities for high technology, creative and knowledge based businesses, allowing links to be forged between public- and private-sector innovation and academic expertise.
According to Andrew Davies, Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, the region is key to the future of the Welsh economy.
"Swansea is playing a leading role in the transformation of Wales as a knowledge economy," he says. "This is a region at the cutting edge of research, technology and entrepreneurship and shows how our innovative use of Objective One funding is working for Wales."
There are ten Techniums across Wales, three of which are in Swansea - Techniums One and Two in SA1 and Technium Digital at Swansea University. A further four are located in other parts of the region - Performance Engineering, Sustainable Technologies, Pembrokeshire and Technium@Sony. A further centre and a visible sign of the success of the initiative - the Ethos building at SA1 - is being contructed through private funding. This will house some of the earliest occupants of Technium as they progress their businesses. All are linked by a high-speed virtual private network or VPN.
"Technium represents innovative thinking at its best," says Professor Marc Clement, Head of the Institute of Innovation at Swansea University and one of the original architects of the Technium concept. "Currently, well over 300 people are directly employed by companies in the South West Wales Technium network and this is just the start of the story.
"A recent and independently-verified study cites a regional net economic impact value of £363.5m, even at its most conservative estimate. It's also important to recognise that Technium is a journey, rather than a destination. Ultimately its success will be measured by the part it plays in inspiring and invigorating a sustainable knowledge economy in Wales."
The impact of investment is increasingly visible. "There are always significant developments underway," says Reynolds. "Be it the Amazon facility, the construction of a new food processing unit at Cross Hands Park or the redevelopment of one of the many marina sites in Swansea Bay.
"The financial impact is also evident through the fact that the region can now attract and accommodate knowledge-based businesses such as Connaught and Morvus Technologies (Oncology), who are based at a site at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales."
The new year brought even more good news for the region, with the announcement that developer Urban Splash is to invest £31bn transforming Swansea's shopping centre with further plans in the pipeline for a £322m redevelopment of the High Street area of the city.
Central to the city's success has been the SA1 development, a £3400m mixed-use regeneration project on 100 acres of what was disused land surrounding the Prince of Wales Dock, bordering the Tawe and adjacent to Fabian Way, the main gateway to the city. It's a project being driven forward by the WAG with European funding for some projects - while receipts from sites that are sold being used to pay for essential infrastructure improvements.
"It has been a hugely successful development and is credited with being the catalyst for creating wider investor confidence in Swansea," said an SA1 spokeswoman. "The original estimate for private sector investment in SA1 has already doubled from £3200m to £3400m - creating a vibrant new quarter that is linked to the city centre and the maritime quarter.
"SA1 is home to large companies like Admiral, which has its regional headquarters on SA1 and employs 900 people. The availability of first class office accommodation enabled the company to expand in Swansea. SA1 is also home to some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial companies with high growth potential. They are housed in the Technium centres and, once they have outgrown their initial space, they can move across the road into another centre which has larger offices.
"If they expand again they can find accommodation elsewhere in SA1 or elsewhere in the city, making it a very sustainable way to create high-quality jobs. A number of companies have also spun out of Swansea University."
A new hotel with leisure and conference facilities has helped created a further 300 jobs for the area and additional hotels and residential accommodation are also planned. Law firm Morgan Cole, the first private sector employer also moved into SA1, enabling the company to expand its services.
Dylan Thomas, that most famous son of Swansea, called the place an "ugly, lovely town". Were Thomas still alive today, the scene he'd survey from Cwmdonkin Park would, surely, be vastly different - a city and region facing the future with a renewed confidence