Economy of Swansea
Encyclopedia
The City and County of Swansea is an urban centre with a largely rural
hinterland in Gower
; the city has been described as the regional centre for South West Wales
. Swansea
's Travel to Work Area
, not coterminous with the local authority, also contained the Swansea Valley
in 1991; the new 2001-based version merges the Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot
, and Llanelli
areas into a new Swansea Bay
Travel to Work Area.
Formerly an industrial centre, most employment in the city is now in the service sector.
. An engraving
of the town in 1818 is described as showing a place which was "distinctly Arcadian, reminiscent of a landscape by Claude sprinkled with civilised Georgian architecture
".
However, the growth of the metallurgical industry was to transform the town. The Lower Swansea valley
was a favourable area for industrial development because of the proximity of Swansea's port
, easy access to coal
deposits, and a supply of cheap labour
. While lead
and zinc
were also smelted in west Glamorgan
, Swansea’s signature industry was copper
. The first copper
works was built at Landore
in 1717. Initially copper ore was imported from Cornwall
, Cardiganshire
and Ireland
, but by the 1820s Swansea was receiving shipments from as far afield as South America
, Africa
and Australia
. The copper
industry reached a zenith in the 1880s, when the majority of copper ores imported to Britain were shipped to Swansea and local works employed around 3000 men at any given time.
From the 1870s, tinplate also became a major local industry, pioneered by the Siemens
works at Landore
. Tinplate production stimulated the further expansion of Swansea port with the opening of the Prince of Wales dock
, to be used mainly for tinplate export
, in 1882. The location of new tinplate works confirmed the steel industry’s increasing preference for coastal sites near ports. However, the Welsh tinplate industry was dependent on exporting to the American market, and suffered serious implications from the imposition of the McKinley tariff
in 1890.
emerged as a major centre of the petroleum industry
in the 1960s, Swansea shared in the general trend towards a post-industrial, service sector economy. Today, the most important economic sectors in the City and County of Swansea are: public administration, education and health (38.3% of local jobs); distribution, hotels and restaurants (24.2%); and banking, finance and insurance (19.9%). The high proportion of public sector
employment
is common to Wales as a whole.
UK plc, Alberto-Culver
, Bemis, International Rectifier
, Morganite Electrical Carbon, and Pure Wafer. Major service sector employers include Admiral Insurance
, Electronic Data Systems
(EDS), NTL
, BT Group
, Conduit
, Tesco
and South West Wales Publications
. Large public sector employers include the City and County of Swansea council, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
, HM Land Registry
, Welsh Assembly Government
, Department for Work and Pensions
, Swansea University
, Swansea Metropolitan University, and Swansea NHS Trust
.
Employment in Swansea grew by 14,800 or 16.2% between 2001 and 2006, greater than equivalent increases in Wales and the UK as a whole. However, manufacturing employment in Swansea fell by 2,100 (-25.2%) between 2001 and 2006, a larger fall than recorded in Wales or the UK as a whole.
, with around 16,100 people making a daily journey outside the authority for work (principally to neighbouring Neath Port Talbot
and Carmarthenshire
) and 28,300 commuting in (again, mainly from Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire). Swansea is part of the Swansea Bay
Travel to Work Area
.
(GVA) per head is relatively low in Swansea at £14,302. However, lower earnings and GVA per head do not necessarily signify a major gap in living standards because of differences in the cost of living and transfer payments.
centre in the UK - a high placement considering the size of its population. In rankings of shopping
attractiveness and competitiveness, Swansea is usually placed outside the top 50, largely because of the low quality of the city centre retail offer.
A peculiarity of Swansea is the lack of employment in the city centre, relative to other towns and cities of similar size. Many major employers have moved to the Enterprise Park
or other fringe locations. Only 4,510 office jobs are now are located in the city centre, compared to 13,910 in Cardiff
. This reduces spend in the city centre economy and underpins the weakness of the local retail sector. Low demand prevents speculative development of new commercial premises, which has created a vicious circle
of city centre decline.
In January 2008, developers were appointed to lead the regeneration of several major sites in the city centre and the waterfront. Proposals include 600000 sq ft (55,741.8 m²) of additional retail space, 1,000 residential units and new leisure, office, hotel and conference facilities. The regeneration programme will take an estimated 15 years. The Welsh Development Agency
(and now the Welsh Assembly Government
) have been promoting the SA1 Swansea Waterfront
development on the edge of the city centre, intended to become a "lively, attractive waterfront destination... using an imaginative mix of land uses". The WDA's Technium
concept of incubator space for high technology firms
(often spin out
s from the local university) was launched at SA1, and additional facilities have now been constructed there and on the university
campus. The Assembly and IBM
are supporting a new Institute of Life Sciences
at the university, which it is hoped will generate more highly-skilled
, high value-added
jobs.
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
hinterland in Gower
Gower Peninsula
Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...
; the city has been described as the regional centre for South West Wales
South West Wales
South West Wales is a region of Wales. A definition consisting of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations including:*BBC...
. Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
's Travel to Work Area
Travel to Work Area
A Travel to Work Area or TTWA is a statistical tool used by UK Government agencies and local authorities, especially by the Department for Work and Pensions and Job Centres, to indicate an area where the population would generally commute to a larger town, city or conurbation for the purposes of...
, not coterminous with the local authority, also contained the Swansea Valley
Swansea Valley
The Swansea Valley , one of the South Wales Valleys is the name often given to the valley of the River Tawe area in South Wales, UK. It reaches southwest and south from the Brecon Beacons National Park down to the city of Swansea. Today, administration of the area is divided between the City and...
in 1991; the new 2001-based version merges the Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
, and Llanelli
Llanelli
Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...
areas into a new Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay (region)
The Swansea Bay area of Wales is located north of the sea area of Swansea Bay. The term Swansea Bay is used by the Welsh Assembly Government for policy planning purposes as well as by a number of other organisations....
Travel to Work Area.
Formerly an industrial centre, most employment in the city is now in the service sector.
19th century
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there were attempts to establish Swansea as a fashionable seaside resortSeaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
. An engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
of the town in 1818 is described as showing a place which was "distinctly Arcadian, reminiscent of a landscape by Claude sprinkled with civilised Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
".
However, the growth of the metallurgical industry was to transform the town. The Lower Swansea valley
Lower Swansea valley
The Lower Swansea valley is the lower half of the valley of the River Tawe in south Wales. It runs from approximately the level of Clydach down to Swansea docks, where it opens into Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel...
was a favourable area for industrial development because of the proximity of Swansea's port
Swansea docks
Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales. The Swansea docks are located immediately south east of Swansea city centre. In the mid-19th century the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe valley...
, easy access to coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
deposits, and a supply of cheap labour
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
. While lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
were also smelted in west Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
, Swansea’s signature industry was copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
. The first copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
works was built at Landore
Landore
Landore is the name of an electoral ward, a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. The community does not have a community council....
in 1717. Initially copper ore was imported from Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, Cardiganshire
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, but by the 1820s Swansea was receiving shipments from as far afield as South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
industry reached a zenith in the 1880s, when the majority of copper ores imported to Britain were shipped to Swansea and local works employed around 3000 men at any given time.
From the 1870s, tinplate also became a major local industry, pioneered by the Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
works at Landore
Landore
Landore is the name of an electoral ward, a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. The community does not have a community council....
. Tinplate production stimulated the further expansion of Swansea port with the opening of the Prince of Wales dock
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
, to be used mainly for tinplate export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
, in 1882. The location of new tinplate works confirmed the steel industry’s increasing preference for coastal sites near ports. However, the Welsh tinplate industry was dependent on exporting to the American market, and suffered serious implications from the imposition of the McKinley tariff
McKinley Tariff
The Tariff Act of 1890, commonly called the McKinley Tariff, was an act framed by Representative William McKinley that became law on October 1, 1890. The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost fifty percent, an act designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition...
in 1890.
20th century
By the end of the Second World War the traditional local heavy industries were in decline, and although Swansea BaySwansea Bay
Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay....
emerged as a major centre of the petroleum industry
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
in the 1960s, Swansea shared in the general trend towards a post-industrial, service sector economy. Today, the most important economic sectors in the City and County of Swansea are: public administration, education and health (38.3% of local jobs); distribution, hotels and restaurants (24.2%); and banking, finance and insurance (19.9%). The high proportion of public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
is common to Wales as a whole.
Major employers
Major employers in Swansea include manufacturing facilities operated by 3M3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
UK plc, Alberto-Culver
Alberto-Culver
Alberto-Culver is an American corporation with international sales whose principal business is manufacturing hair and skin beauty care products under such brands as Alberto VO5, Andrew Collinge, St. Ives , TRESemmé, FDS, Consort, and Nexxus. It is a manufacturer in the multicultural beauty care...
, Bemis, International Rectifier
International Rectifier
International Rectifier Corp. is a manufacturer of power semiconductors , located in El Segundo, California, USA...
, Morganite Electrical Carbon, and Pure Wafer. Major service sector employers include Admiral Insurance
Admiral Insurance
Admiral, part of the Admiral Group, is a car insurance specialist which launched in January 1993. Its head offices are in Capital Tower, Cardiff, Wales. It also has offices in Swansea and Newport and Halifax, Nova Scotia...
, Electronic Data Systems
Electronic Data Systems
HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,...
(EDS), NTL
NTL
NTL Incorporated, was a U.S.-listed British company, that became the first "quadruple-play" media-company in the UK, bringing together television, Internet, mobile phone and fixed-line telephone services. While NTL has its headquarters in New York City, the company's activities focus heavily on...
, BT Group
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
, Conduit
118 118 (UK)
118 118 is a UK directory enquiries provider based in Cardiff that assists customers with telephone number enquiries and general queries.The service is provided by The Number UK Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of US directory enquiries provider Knowledge Generation Bureau , whose company motto is...
, Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
and South West Wales Publications
South West Wales Publications
South West Wales Publications , part of the Northcliffe Media, is a regional newspaper publisher based in Swansea. The company produces eight local and regional paid-for and free titles including the:*South Wales Evening Post,*Carmarthen Journal,...
. Large public sector employers include the City and County of Swansea council, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is the organisation of the UK Government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers and a database of vehicles in Great Britain; its counterpart in Northern Ireland is the Driver & Vehicle Agency...
, HM Land Registry
HM Land Registry
Land Registry is a non-ministerial government department and executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1862 to register the ownership of land and property in England and Wales...
, Welsh Assembly Government
Welsh Assembly Government
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...
, Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...
, Swansea University
Swansea University
Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
, Swansea Metropolitan University, and Swansea NHS Trust
Swansea NHS Trust
Swansea NHS Trust was an NHS Trust covering Swansea, south Wales. It was established on 1 April 1999 and ceased to exist on 1 April 2008 when it merged with Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust to form the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust . The trust managed nine hospitals and provides over 1,800...
.
Employment
In May 2008, 70.7% of Swansea's working-age residents were in employment. The largest single occupational group in Swansea is associate professional & technical occupations (comprising 14.3% of employment), although compared to the Welsh and UK averages the city also has large shares of administrative & secretarial occupations (12.9%) and sales & customer service occupations (11.2%).Employment in Swansea grew by 14,800 or 16.2% between 2001 and 2006, greater than equivalent increases in Wales and the UK as a whole. However, manufacturing employment in Swansea fell by 2,100 (-25.2%) between 2001 and 2006, a larger fall than recorded in Wales or the UK as a whole.
Commuting
The city is a centre of net in-commutingCommuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
, with around 16,100 people making a daily journey outside the authority for work (principally to neighbouring Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
and Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
) and 28,300 commuting in (again, mainly from Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire). Swansea is part of the Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay (region)
The Swansea Bay area of Wales is located north of the sea area of Swansea Bay. The term Swansea Bay is used by the Welsh Assembly Government for policy planning purposes as well as by a number of other organisations....
Travel to Work Area
Travel to Work Area
A Travel to Work Area or TTWA is a statistical tool used by UK Government agencies and local authorities, especially by the Department for Work and Pensions and Job Centres, to indicate an area where the population would generally commute to a larger town, city or conurbation for the purposes of...
.
Income
Surveys show that annual full-time gross median earnings for Swansea residents (£21,577) are lower than the UK average. The annual gross median earnings for those who work in Swansea are even lower, only £18,993. Similarly, gross value addedGross value added
Gross Value Added ' is a measure in economics of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy...
(GVA) per head is relatively low in Swansea at £14,302. However, lower earnings and GVA per head do not necessarily signify a major gap in living standards because of differences in the cost of living and transfer payments.
City centre
Although some surveys place Swansea as the 18th largest retailRetail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
centre in the UK - a high placement considering the size of its population. In rankings of shopping
Shopping
Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
attractiveness and competitiveness, Swansea is usually placed outside the top 50, largely because of the low quality of the city centre retail offer.
A peculiarity of Swansea is the lack of employment in the city centre, relative to other towns and cities of similar size. Many major employers have moved to the Enterprise Park
Swansea Enterprise Park
The Swansea Enterprise Park is a combined business park, retail park and industrial estate in Swansea, Wales. In 1981 it became the first enterprise zone in the United Kingdom, and the largest. Originally it was named the Swansea Enterprise Zone. The designated area covers parts of the...
or other fringe locations. Only 4,510 office jobs are now are located in the city centre, compared to 13,910 in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. This reduces spend in the city centre economy and underpins the weakness of the local retail sector. Low demand prevents speculative development of new commercial premises, which has created a vicious circle
Vicious Circle
Vicious Circle is an album released in 1994 by L.A. Guns. Most of the songs have Phil Lewis on lead vocals, but the track "Nothing Better to Do" features Kelly Nickels on lead vocals, and "Tarantula" is instrumental. MC Bones drums on several songs. Lewis and Bones also played together in the band...
of city centre decline.
In January 2008, developers were appointed to lead the regeneration of several major sites in the city centre and the waterfront. Proposals include 600000 sq ft (55,741.8 m²) of additional retail space, 1,000 residential units and new leisure, office, hotel and conference facilities. The regeneration programme will take an estimated 15 years. The Welsh Development Agency
Welsh Development Agency
The Welsh Development Agency was a QUANGO and later an Assembly Sponsored Public Body established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales, to clear derelict land and to encourage growth of local businesses...
(and now the Welsh Assembly Government
Welsh Assembly Government
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...
) have been promoting the SA1 Swansea Waterfront
SA1 Swansea Waterfront
SA1 Swansea Waterfront is the marketing name given to the brownfield development area located in northern part of Swansea Docks. The area is located directly to the southeast of Swansea city centre. It is bordered by the Fabian Way to the north and covers the Prince of Wales Dock area.The...
development on the edge of the city centre, intended to become a "lively, attractive waterfront destination... using an imaginative mix of land uses". The WDA's Technium
Technium
Technium is the brand name of a business incubation scheme in Wales. The scheme provides tenants with office space, business support, fast telecom links and venture finance....
concept of incubator space for high technology firms
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
(often spin out
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
s from the local university) was launched at SA1, and additional facilities have now been constructed there and on the university
Swansea University
Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
campus. The Assembly and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
are supporting a new Institute of Life Sciences
Life sciences
The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms, like plants, animals, and human beings. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of...
at the university, which it is hoped will generate more highly-skilled
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
, high value-added
Value added
In economics, the difference between the sale price and the production cost of a product is the value added per unit. Summing value added per unit over all units sold is total value added. Total value added is equivalent to Revenue less Outside Purchases...
jobs.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 2,095 |
| 2000 | 2,536 |
| 2005 | 3,238 |