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The South East has a Gross Value Added (GVA) of £158 billion (approx $290 billion / €230 billion). This is similar to that of Norway and Austria. |
With a population of eight million and a workforce of 4.2 million, the South East is the largest region in the UK. |
Approximately 287,200 VAT registered enterprises are present in the South East, more than any other UK region. |
The South East is the largest exporter in the UK, with £29 billion (approx $52 billion / €41 billion) of goods moved in 2004. |
The labour force is highly educated with 90% of the working age population holding an academic qualification and over one third of the workforce holding a degree. |
Workers with good language skills are readily available in the region due to the truly international workforce of 585,000 people who were born outside of the UK. |
Around nine working days a year are lost per employee due to sickness, the lowest amount for a UK region. |
The region is home to 24 universities and higher education institutes, where nearly 200,000 study. This includes the University of Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. |
South East universities work very closely with business, with over 2800 research conracts won annually, higher than any other UK region. |
The region's 24 universities and higher education institutes supply over 73,000 graduates per annum. |
£4.66 billion (approx $3.06 billion / €2.43 billion) is spent on R&D annually, nearly one quarter of UK expenditure. |
South East organisations undertaking R&D employ 45,800 people, which is almost 25% of the UK R&D workforce. |
The South East has the highest number of patents granted in the UK. The statistics show that 820 patents, over 20% of the UK total were granted to firms based in the South East in 2004-5. |
There are 6,540 foreign-owned companies in the South East. |
With three international airports, 11 sea ports, 108 motorway junctions, 77 train stations and access to the Channel Tunnel, the South East has one of the most extensive transport infrastructures in Europe. |
Heathrow, the world's busiest international passenger airport, is home to over 90 airlines serving approximately 186 destinations. It handles over 67 million passengers and 1.3 million tonnes of freight each year. |
It takes 35 minutes to travel through the Channel Tunnel between the UK and mainland Europe. Most major towns in the South East are connected by rail to central London with a journey time of under an hour. |
Almost one third of the land in the South East (637,000 hectares) is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), more than any other UK region. |
In 2004-5, the South East had the second lowest crime rate in England with 8,983 reported crimes per 100,000 people. |
94% of the South East population is in good or fairly good health, which is higher than any other UK region. |
Eurostar has set a record for the quickest train journey between Paris and London of just 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds, meaning a typical journey will take just over 2 hours when the line opens in November 2007. |
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| South East set to capitalise on £325m in high-tech funding |
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22 February 2010
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Organisations in the South East are set to benefit from a raft of new financial backing announced by the Prime Minister as part of the UK Innovation Investment Fund (UKIIF).
A total of £325 million has been earmarked for life sciences, digital and advanced manufacturing businesses, with an initial contribution of £125 million being complemented with a further £200 million announced this week.
The latest capital comes via a split-contribution from the state and fund managers the European Investment Fund (EIF), who have matched the £100 million put forward by the government.
The money will be invested in UK venture funds, which will focus on technology-based businesses offering significant growth opportunities.
Speaking to the Global Investment Conference, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the move was part of the UK's commitment to the skilled jobs and industries of the future.
"This fund, seeded by the government, is bringing private venture capital to growing enterprises," he said. "It is already providing £125 million of funding to high-tech, low-carbon businesses. From today, a further £200 million will be available for life sciences, digital and advanced manufacturing."
Chief Executive of the EIF, Richard Pelly, said the funds and expertise enshrined in the support provided by the UKIIF would help to "support the next generation of high growth, high tech businesses".
The South East is at the heart of the high-end, next-generation manufacturing and life sciences industries, with the financial backing of the government and the highly skilled workforce provided by an array of world-class universities creating the ideal conditions for cutting-edge research and development.
Southampton University was recently named as one of three sites to be handed £70 million in government investment as part of plans to develop an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) centre, while Oxford has also found itself at the forefront of recent plans in the life sciences sector.
Details of a new UK Life Sciences Super Cluster, which will bring together industry, academia and the NHS, saw Oxford highlighted as a leading example of the international standard needed to bring about the next generation of medicines to combat chronic diseases.
Oxford was one of three life sciences associations to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Boston-based Massachusetts Biotechnology Council as part of efforts to improve international partnering and knowledge transfer.
Next month the University of Southampton plays host to a conference on nanotechnologies for future communication devices, looking at ways in which new approaches might yield a new era of powerful processing.
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