Hampshire and Isle of Wight
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Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is a diverse and thriving economy home to world class business clusters in aerospace, defence and marine clusters. Hampshire also has a strong finance and business services sector, a large land-based economy and a strong leisure and tourism offer. The sub-region has excellent connectivity to London and benefits from excellent connectivity, including two of the UK’s major ports at Southampton and Portsmouth, Europe’s leading business airport at Farnborough, a growing regional airport at Southampton and strong rail and road infrastructure.
Hampshire has two Diamond for Investment and Growth areas – Basingstoke, embracing the wider North Hampshire economy which is adjacent to London and the Thames Valley, and Urban South Hampshire along the coast, home to over 800,000 people.
Within this region, SEEDA provides catalysts to business growth and innovation through our innovation and growth teams and Diamond areas. View the map for more information.
Key facts
- There are 602,755 jobs in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight representing a 16% share of employment in the South East
- 62,035 VAT registered businesses are based in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The majority of businesses in the sub region are SMEs employing approximately 50 % of the workforce.
- Southampton Port is the UK’s number one port for vehicle imports and exports, and is the UK’s second largest container terminal.
- Hampshire (including Portsmouth & Southampton) economy is worth approximately £32.3billion per annum.
- There are four universities in Hampshire, including the University of Southampton, one of the UK’s leading research universities.
Key sectors
Hampshire has a strong advanced engineering and manufacturing presence including aerospace and aeronautical engineering, mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical and medical, electronics and telecommunications, maritime and marine-related engineering. There is a strong concentration of defence-related and aerospace R&D and manufacturing around Farnborough, Portsmouth and on the Island.
The Island has a thriving environmental technology and composites business base, boat building and strong tourism offer.
Finance and business services are strong across Hampshire, particularly to the North and around Southampton.
The marine sector in the Solent area is valued at £5.5billion a year and provides 25,000 direct jobs.
To find out more please browse the following sections:
Contact for more information:
Acting Area Director: Jay Hunt
Tel: +44 (0)1483 501 752
