The South West’s major innovation infrastructure projects and the opportunities being generated by its high-growth businesses are to be promoted in a new investment drive.
Tech South West, the organisation supporting the region’s tech cluster, is to stage a showcase at London Tech Week in June to highlight the investment profile of the South West.
It is also heading to the UK’s major infrastructure and property investment summit UKREiiF in Leeds next month in collaboration with Great South West, the partnership that brings together public and private sector leaders from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire to advance the region’s economic growth agenda.
Closer to home, it will attend the new Somerset Ignite Investment Summit, also in June, where it will showcase a host of investment and supply chain opportunities, including the new Agratas EV gigafactory now under construction near Bridgwater.
The co-ordinated activity follows Tech South West’s own investment summit last month, which included pitches, talks and panel discussions focusing on the region’s defence sector.
Among those at the event at Exeter’s Sandy Park were the MoD, Babcock International, Inductive Power Projection, Nautexe, Voxmar and Latent Drive.
Tech South West will be using the Great South West’s High Growth Tracker to spotlight investment opportunities across key economic sectors, including at its London showcase on 9 June.
The data-led tool has identified 100 of the region’s highest-growth potential companies including Ethical Power, Spark Technology Services, SupaCat, HQW Aerospace and Plessey Semiconductors.
Combined, these businesses hold around £4bn in assets, with 65% forecast to achieve at least 20% growth over the next 12 months – a performance profile stronger than the UK average.
Meanwhile, as part of its investment drive, new Tech South West accelerator programmes have been launched, including for cleantech and healthtech, along with a UK-wide marine autonomy accelerator, in partnership with Babcock International and the University of Plymouth. Companies from as far as Scotland and Newcastle have already applied.
Dan Pritchard, founder of Tech South West, said: “We are at a pivotal moment for the UK economy which is wholly relevant to our region.
“Geopolitical shifts, the global energy transition, and the accelerating convergence of defence, marine, and clean technology have reshaped industrial priorities, putting the South West at the heart of the UK’s growth opportunity for the next decade.
“We have a genuinely world-class concentration of capability in defence and dual-use technology, marine autonomy, drone technology, cleantech, EV battery tech, critical minerals and agri-food innovation.
“Over the coming weeks we’ll be taking that message far and wide.”
Karl Tucker, chair of the Great South West Partnership, added: “The Great South West is home to a concentration of high-performing, high-potential businesses.
“These are companies already delivering for the UK economy, in clean energy, defence, advanced manufacturing and beyond. With the right support, they can go even further.
“Aligning investment, innovation, and business support, across programmes like the TSW Growth Forge Accelerator, targeting investors at UKREiiF and the TSW London Showcase, will help shine a light on the opportunities to unlock long-term growth for the region and the country.”