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Economic overview
The Portsmouth city region is a prosperous and dynamic place offering businesses of all sizes the ideal environment for profitability and expansion. Its excellent infrastructure and direct access to both UK mainland and European markets has attracted a large number of national and multinational companies locating alongside those operating within local and regional markets.
The region’s geographical location and defence-related heritage has resulted in the establishment of clusters in hi-tech companies and R&D centres in IT, telecommunications, defence systems and engineering. With skills in these industries easily transferable into the growing composite and electronic industries existing companies have been able to successfully diversify in to new business activity and companies have been attracted to the area including EADS Astrium, BAe Systems, IBM and Lockheed Martin.
Although manufacturing and engineering and dockyard-related activity has historically been a major employment sector, it is now the service sector that provides the main source of employment in the city region. Within this there are significant job numbers in finance and business services, public administration and retail plus leisure and tourism. Such diversity and increased economic strength helps protect the city region from a downturn in any one specific sector.
