South West Financial Centre of Excellence
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2019 South West Financial Centre of Excellence May 20 Withdrawn 2 South West Financial Centre of Excellence gov.uk/ukti 3 2019 May Welcome to 20 The South West Region but we are also a significant alternative location to the UK capital for expanding financial services Cheltenham companies. Gloucester Bristol We’ve achieved this position through Bath a combination of strengths: a deep and diverse talent pool with thousands of top graduates; lower operating, property and staffing Withdrawn We are proud to introduce you to one costs; ready-made infrastructure of the UK’s most productive financial and super-fast connections to services city regions outside London. London, the rest of the UK and We’ve proved our mettle in industries throughout the globe. such as digital tech and aerospace, It’s time to explore the South West. 4 South West Financial Centre of Excellence gov.uk/ukti 5 Twelve reasons to set up and expand your financial services business in the South West 1. Top Talent 2. Established financial 3. A preference2019 162,000 people work in financial & services ecosystem for ex-Londoners professional services in the South West1 An influx of major investors are building Bristol is one of the UK’s preferred one of the largest FS sectors in the UK2 cities for those leaving the capital May 4. A leader in specialisms 5. Back-office hotspot 6. Four universities with The South West is a lead region outside Major brands are relocating 20,000+ graduates of London in financial services, high-volume processes here Recruit world-class economists, banking and accountancy and saving millions entrepreneurs, business and 20 law students Onshore magnet “With its sophisticated financial services ecosystem, proximity to 7. First-class connections 8. Fintech hub 9. Competitive office and London and international markets and highly skilled talent base, this Reach London’s Canary Wharf in The future of financial services salary costs under 2 hours thanks to is being forged here Save 25-30% compared to London region has the edge.” says Chris Bull, Chair, Professional and Financial electrification and CrossRail Sector Group, West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. “In a digital age you can choose We have a strong skills pipeline, with much more widely about where universities and colleges constantly feeding you can place your operations. talent into the workforce. 10. A top location for productivity 11. Best for quality of life 12. Biggest legal centre There’s a big trend among Ranked top for productivity in The South West is consistently outside London businesses which are headquartered There’s a proximity to the rest of the 3 4 the UK by TechNation 2016 voted the UK’s best place to live Offering a vast pool of legal skills or have mass operations in London country, international markets and London, Withdrawn to ‘onshore’ here.” with electrification of the rail network bringing even shorter journey times. “Financial and professional services are the largest sectors in the region. These features give us an edge; a genuine 1 TheCityUK. www.thecityuk.com/about-us/uk-work-programme/ Life, Friends Life, Computershare Investment Services, NatWest business advantage. This is why large new-u-k-interactive-map-page/south-west Insurance, Triodos Bank, Clerical Medical 2 Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, HBOS, Coutts, 3 MoneySuperMarket Quality of Living Index 2013 If you set up here, you are not working from players such as Lloyds, NatWest and Aviva Barclays, Axa Life, HSBC Life, Standard Life Wealth, Bank of Ireland, 4 CBRE Law in the Regions report, Feb 2016 a green field site. We have the infrastructure. Rathbone Greenbank Investments, Hargreaves Lansdown, Canada have been drawn here and why Hargreaves 6 South West Financial Centre of Excellence gov.uk/ukti 7 Lansdown and Cheltenham & Gloucester mainline rail links that intersect the region. have become such major international players from here, employing nearly Talk to the businesses who are already 20,000 people between them. here. Look at the evidence, the surveys and the statistics that all support this The City of London is an increasingly region as being an ideal place to locate expensive place to employ and locate financial and supporting professional people right across back, middle and front services firms.” office functions. The South West of England is now a primary alternative to London where financial services THE FUTURE OF FINANCE 2019 companies can locate and thrive. The region is a centre of excellence for This is also one of the most attractive financial services education and research. Here are some of the organisations that regions for people to relocate. The South are coaching the industry’s brightest West is top rated for quality of life, and this minds and shaping the future: is why the Times voted it the best place to May live in 2015. The region is also a centre for • Global Research HQ – the Centre innovation. Financial services firms are for Global Finance at Bristol Business harnessing the deep pool of technology School undertakes cutting-edge research into corporate finance, and digital skills. Many businesses located 20monetary systems, banking, here have been very successful in governance and more developing innovative financial services models and there are also a high number • The School of Management – at the Future fintech of small, nimble businesses; hedge funds in University of Bath ranks amongst the Bath for example. These are small world’s top one per cent of business schools1 businesses dealing with huge amounts of “Fintech firms in the region are driving the global revolution in financial • Innovative accountants – money. It’s because they are not location services” explains Toby Hughes, founder and CEO of award-winning dependent and Bath is an attractive place Undergraduates and academics are to be. breaking new ground at the University Momentum Financial Technology. of Gloucestershire’s International As for where to set up, companies looking Centre for Contemporary Accounting “Fintech is turning the financial “The future of financial services is about to relocate in the South West have a full Research services sector on its head and there’s disruption: finding new ways of doing spectrum of options: Central Bristol offers • No.1 for satisfaction – The business an enormous opportunity for the banking and insurance, opening up affordable grade A space in the middle of studies course at the University of Bath South West. We’re a global the way data is shared, accessing new oneWithdrawn of the UK’s most exciting cities. School of Management is rated number community in tech and the South investment markets, developing peer-to- Alternatively you can opt for even better one for student satisfaction2 West have a leading part to play peer lending, improving mortgages and priced offices in a wide choice of small alongside London, New York and driving efficiencies that will lead to town or semi-rural settings, or in state-of- Silicon Valley.” cheaper prices.” the-art business parks with exceptional 1By EQUIS, the European Foundation for Management Development’s transport links, thanks to the M4/M5 and (EFMD) quality inspectorate 2The Student Survey Experience 8 South West Financial Centre of Excellence gov.uk/ukti 9 “The South West is taking a lead and is a Company Overview great place to have a facility. If you’re in fintech, you need a presence in London but that can be done through a virtual office. Offices here are half the price. The calibre of staff is fundamental. In London it can be hard to get and retain the talent. The work life balance in the South Momentum Financial Technology in Bristol West is arguably better, which can produce Toby Hughes founded financial digital happier employees. We have developers marketing agency Blue Speck2019 Media in 2011. from Mexico, all over Europe and from A 2014 acquisition by South African America. The local universities provide insurance company MMI Holdings led to the numerous PHD and Masters graduates. founding of Momentum Financial Technology, which operates a 120-person We started Blue Speck Media in 2011 fintech lab in Bristol. The company currently trying to create something that helped runs Moneyhub — an award-winning people make better choices over financial app-based financial dashboard — and futures. We launched award-winning May YourWealth.co.uk, a personal financial websites and tools. information website that helps users choose We were one of the world’s best financial products. Back-office boost organisations at what we were doing but we20 South West Facts needed to accelerate the business. • Home to the Centre for Global Finance Following numerous approaches for the (University of the West of England) with company, MMI, which operates in 13 “Moving back-office functions to the South West can reap major rewards” an international reputation countries, acquired us. They recognised that say Clive Hetherington, Head of Mid Markets, South West Region and large organisations are not always best • Home to the most productive digital tech Business Development Director Paul Harvey, both of Lloyds Bank. placed to incubate technology, identifying cluster in the UK (Tech Nation 2016) that the South West has the agility and skills • Centre of the South West’s securing, “Once Lloyds decided to come to We were drawn to Bristol by the mix of supply that they require. They can see the brokering and fund management activity impressive work that is happening with the Bristol, we ran a huge internal professional communities — its diverse talent in the region. • Home to the forthcoming National Cyber advertising campaign and were workforce and variety of businesses — Security project inundated with people who were the quality of the people and work-life We’ve now opened a new 120-person R&D Key Areas of Strength working in London and were happy balance.