The Government has announced that all Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), including SEEDA, will close by 31 March 2012.
Responsibility for economic development and regeneration in England is being passed onto successor bodies, including Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and central Government departments
Our objective is to ensure a professional and cost effective closure by this date. We have pledged to work closely with our partners, contractors and stakeholders to ensure that the past and future economic benefits of key programmes and assets continue to deliver the greatest economic value for the South East and value for money for the taxpayer.
Please click here for more details about our closure plan, transition arrangements and successor organisations.
Surrey and Berkshire
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Surrey and Berkshire are thriving economic areas with major centres of business and education connected to the South East and London by national road and rail links and to the world by Heathrow and Gatwick international airports. This is complemented by high quality environment and rich cultural assets, all making the area an attractive place for businesses, people and students to work, live and study.
Within this region, SEEDA provided 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 1,165,900 jobs in Surrey and Berkshire that represent a 26% share of employment in the South East, the largest of the five sub regions, for 23% share of the region’s population.
- In 2007 Surrey and Berkshire had the greatest net gain of VAT registration of all sub region areas at 2,755. The area’s stock of VAT registered businesses at the start of 2008 was also the greatest at 85,645, representing nearly 27% share of the South East's total.
- The latest figures from Office for National Statistics (ONS) published in December 2008, place Berkshire as the fourth best performing sub region in the UK for GVA per head of workforce at £28,853 in 2006. This makes Berkshire the top performing sub-region in the South East with Surrey as the fifth, with a GVA per head of workforce of £22,309.
- Ten of the sub-region’s 17 local authority areas are in the top twenty locations (out of 407) in the UK Competitiveness Index 2008. All of them fall in the top fifty.
Key sectors
- Surrey boasts the biggest and most diverse concentration of the world’s leading headquarters for knowledge industries, information technology, telecommunications, biotechnology and advanced engineering, outside London. Over 250 companies have been identified, with well known names such as Sony, Philips, McLaren, Proctor and Gamble and Avia.
- Berkshire is home to over 50 of the world’s leading 250 company spenders on information technology research and development and home to 17 of the 50 Most Innovative Firms in the World as recognised by Business Week 2008.
