First cross-border and multi-lingual ‘powerhouse’ the Western Gateway / Porth y Gorllewin launches new website and prospectus

A new economic partnership across south Wales and western England aims to boost local economies by working together. The Western Gateway, launched by Cabinet Ministers in November 2019, is the UK’s third powerhouse after the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine.

The Western Gateway, however, goes one step further than the ‘regional’ powerhouses formed to date. The Western Gateway stretches across south Wales as well as western England so is cross-border. Core cities Cardiff and Bristol are joined by Bath, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Newport, Swansea, Swindon, Tewkesbury, Weston and Wiltshire, alongside the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), to form the partnership.

All partners intend to focus on inclusive and clean economic growth, where scale and collaboration can achieve more for the people and the wider economies of countries involved than our constituent parts could achieve alone.

A new pithy prospectus for the Western Gateway outlines the emerging vision and the key ambitions for the economic partnership.  The prospectus has been developed through discussions between the partnership’s local authorities, businesses, LEPs and city regions. It sets out the scale of the Western Gateway’s ambitions and identifies the emerging strategic priorities of:
               - connectivity
               - innovation; and
               - a co-ordinated international approach to trade and investment.

Delivering this vision will add more than £56bn to the UK economy by 2030 and help us achieve a net zero future.

Chair of the Western Gateway, Katherine Bennett CBE, said: “The proposal we’ve put on the table is one that will deliver the economic boost the region requires to maximise its potential. Our prospectus provides an insight into the journey we are undertaking together as a partnership of leaders and authorities, determined to deliver growth from Swansea to Swindon and Cheltenham to Weston.”

David Owen CEO of GFirst LEP, said: “The Western Gateway initiative provides an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of the wider region at Government level and GFirst LEP is 100% supportive of it. The Western Gateway, covers an area from Swindon to Swansea and includes the whole of Gloucestershire; it will significantly strengthen the proposition of Gloucestershire and the West of England.”

The Western Gateway prospectus comes ahead of a full vision document for the partnership, following the completion of an Independent Economic Review later in 2020 that will provide an evidence base across the countries, area and regions of the partnership. Across Britain the economic map is being reshaped by devolution and regional powerhouses.

Visit and read our prospectus at: www.western-gateway.co.uk