Today tourism and the university (not just one but two) are the two main factors making so many people flock to Bristol throughout the year. Bristol has an approximate population of 410,950 and is Britain’s ninth most popular city. Bordering the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire, Bristol has very good links to the Midlands via the M5, and to the Royal city of Bath.
The Bristol Centre, which opened in 2000, the more recently opened Cabot Circus, the new £500m retail and leisure development, and the Broadmead shopping area, all combine to make Bristol one of the top shopping destinations in the UK.
The city centre docks have been regenerated in recent years to offer a centre of heritage and culture to the city’s many tourists. Bristol is in fact now the UK's seventh most popular destination for foreign tourists, with the city receiving nine million visitors each year.
In more recent years, Bristol’s economy has been built around the aerospace industry, which remains to this day a major segment of the local economy. Well-known companies that are now based in the area include BAE Systems, Airbus and Rolls-Royce, all of which are based at Filton. Interestingly, Filton played a key role in the development of the Concorde. Aerospace Engineering is a prominent research area for Bristol, with much pioneering work happening at the nearby University West of England, UWE.
While Bristol's economy is no longer reliant upon its port, the city is still the largest importer of cars to the UK. The financial services sector employs 40,000 in the city. The hi-tech sector is also important; the city plays host to 400 micro-electronic and silicon design companies, as well as industry heavy-weight Hewlett-Packard.
In the context of the mushrooming local economy, there has also been huge development when it comes to commercial space, both serviced offices and conventional. All the main players have business centres in Bristol, with Regus dominating a number of buildings and proving popular among local businesses. Other companies such as Rombourne, The Office Group (which created an organic farm on the roof of its building), Business Environment Group, MWB and a number of independent operators play a major part in this growth. These serviced office operators also have a presence in Aztec West, a business park based on the fringes of Northern Bristol and South Gloucester, alongside other office space operators such as Citibase. There are 100 companies based at Aztec West including Orange, with a 7,000-strong workforce. A number of industrial units are also based there.
Clifton, an inner suburb of Bristol, has a less corporate feel. It is considered a more affluent area, but it still has a small commercial presence, and a number of operators run serviced office space in the area, including Business Environment Group.
Recently, prices in Bristol have been driven down by the mass amount of competition in the area as compared to other UK cities. For such a popular and thriving city, costs hovering around the £300-£400 per workstation mark are proving irresistible for a great number of companies!