Engineering is the second largest sector in the South West, in terms of employment, providing 9.9 per cent towards the region's GDP compared with 8.4 per cent nationally. Although the sector has suffered significant decline across the country, the South West has fared relatively well and benefits from links with defence-related and health-related industries - more specifically medical precision engineering and aerospace. 
 
Within the region the sector has three principal components:

• Aerospace: largely clustered around Bristol - this is the largest sub-sector in employment terms, accounting for almost a third of all jobs in the advanced engineering sector.
• Automotive: with a large concentration of employment in the Swindon area including Honda's only UK manufacturing plant.
• Measuring instruments and medical devices: with particular strengths in healthcare products and research and development. There are concentrations of employment in this sub-sector across the region, notably in Gloucestershire.

The West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) has been instrumental in developing, in partnership with the South West RDA, a detailed strategy to support and enhance the sector.

For more information on the Advanced Engineering sector in South West England, please visit www.southwestengland.co.uk  
 
The brochures below provide more details on the aerospace sector in South West England: 
 
South West England: Leading Edge Technology in Aviation and Defence (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 558.07kb) 
 
University Aerospace Expertise in South West England (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 916.88kb)