The Swansea Bay City Deal has celebrated another successful 12 months in delivering its portfolio of nine headline projects and programmes, with key milestones being reached and delivery pace accelerating across the entire region. The Annual Report for April 2022 – March 2023 has been published which details key achievements for the year including securing over £83m investment from the Private and Public Sector, and providing 1,200 weeks of training in construction. Additionally, to date over 47,380m² of floorspace has been created and over 200+ contracts have been awarded to Welsh based companies, with many more highlights to follow, providing opportunities for regional businesses and delivering thousands of jobs.   

Estimated to attract around £1.26 billion of investment by 2033 the City Deal is an unprecedented investment funded by the Welsh Government and UK Government, the public sector, and the private sector. Working collaboratively to delivery nine outstanding projects. It will help transform South West Wales’ urban and rural areas into a place where businesses can thrive, residents can boost their skills and gain access to over 9,000 well-paid local job opportunities, and help economic recovery by contributing over £1.8 billion to the regional economy. Much needed infrastructure will support businesses to incubate and grow with many opportunities to develop local supply chains.

Significant progress has been made across multiple projects over the last 12 months.

Swansea Arena celebrated its first full year of operation with over 240,000 visitors attending major performances such as John Bishop, Alice Cooper, The Cult and Michael McIntyre, as well as conferences, business events and graduation ceremonies. Yr Egin, the creative sector hub in Carmarthen and home to anchor tenant S4C surpassed its fourth year since opening and the Bay Technology Centre in Port Talbot welcomed its first group of tenants.

Progress continues in other areas as contractors are on site at the multi-million-pound Pentre Awel project in Llanelli, the 71/72 Kingsway office development and the Innovation Matrix project in Swansea and the historic hangar refurbishments, the slipway and pontoon projects at Pembroke Port. The Campuses project is also starting to build strong relationships within the health and well-being sector, ready for upcoming procurements.

The three regional projects have also been progressing well. The Skills and Talent programme approved nine pilot projects, which will see our regions schools, colleges, universities, local authorities and private sector companies work collaboratively to provides skills and training for young people in upcoming job across the region. The Digital Infrastructure programme continued to improve the digital landscape excelled in meeting their investment expectations. The Homes as Power Stations (HAPS) project which is facilitating the adoption of energy efficient design and renewable technologies into homes progressed with funding initiatives that will soon be released, as well as delivering 200 HAPS homes which realised £42m of investment. 

Councillor Rob Stewart, Chairman of the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Joint Committee, said “Progress of the City Deal over the last 12 months has been fantastic and we continue to build, grow and invest in our region. Through our collaborative working we have seen great progress across the entire portfolio, excelling in delivery and shaping our future.

“Complementary initiatives across the region that also support the our regional economic development are also coming into fruition, including Levelling Up Funded initiatives, the successful Celtic Freeport bid, securing commitment from Skyline, the Blue Eden project and the Global Centre of Rail Excellence in Wales.

“I look forward to another exciting 12 months and feel privileged to be part of the fantastic journey that is transforming South West Wales for the better.”