All RDAs across England are closing by March 2012
(see transition and closure section).
With our resources reducing steadily, this page has not been recently updated and the information below may not be current.
If in doubt, please contact us directly.
Somerset
Economic overview
Somerset has a large and diverse economy with heavy reliance on
agriculture in the rural parts of the county as well as important
urban centres in Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil.
It has good rail and road links to the rest of the country.
Lying in the middle of the region, it performs around average
economically compared to the rest of the South West. Somerset’s
population is growing and currently stands at around 516,000, with
a prediction of a 7.5 per cent increase by 2016.
The employment base in this part of the region is quite diverse.
Advanced engineering is strong in Somerset - especially aerospace
in South Somerset, which employs around 10,000 people.
Manufacturing is also important, with 14 per cent of the workforce
engaged in making a whole range of products from orange juice to
helicopters. Some of the leading manufacturing companies based
within the region include: AgustaWestland in Yeovil; Thales
Underwater System located in Templecombe (near Wincanton); United
Kingdom Hydrographic Office based in Taunton; Gerber Products
Company based in Bridgewater and Yeo Valley Organic.
RDA support in recent years
Since 1999, the RDA has supported a range of economic
development projects across the county, including the creation of
high quality employment space and provision of business
opportunities.
A good example of our targeted historical investment in Somerset
is the Genesis Project, one of the government's centres of
vocational excellence, based at the Somerset College of Arts and
Technology in Taunton. The Genesis Centre is an award winning
sustainable building used for the development and delivery of many
of the learning programmes offered through the project. The project
is self-funding and delivers bespoke educational programmes based
at either the Genesis Centre or in-house throughout the year.
As well as capital investment, the RDA is providing a range of
support services for businesses. Through its management of the EU’s
Rural Development Programme for England, the RDA is providing
£6.45m of funding for rural businesses in Western Somerset,
Blackdown Hills and the Somerset levels and Moors.
It is also providing support to businesses affected by the
recession and addressing the impact of redundancies through its
Area Action Forces.
The RDA has invested heavily in regeneration projects across the
county during the past decade. This includes: Morlands Enterprise
Park in Glastonbury, where the Agency has invested approximately
£20m and is now working with partners to develop serviced
employment sites to support local businesses; investment of
Regional Infrastructure Fund money to create strategic flood
defences to unlock sustainable town centre growth in Taunton; and
£2.9m funding towards the creation of Yeovil Innovation Centre.
RDA priorities
Although the Agency is continuing to make significant
investments in Somerset during the years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011,
it is doing so at a reduced level, as a result of the budget
review.
The RDA will continue to support Project Taunton – a major town
centre regeneration project; Bridgwater Challenge – creating a
framework for the regeneration of the town; and the Nuclear Skills
Academy in Bridgwater – a new development at Bridgwater College
that will provide the workforce with the right skills to create and
run a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.
These investments, and others, add up to a total of around £4.5m
of funding for Somerset (excluding RDPE) over the next two
years.
Somerset will also directly benefit from around £103m of
additional RDA investment to support activity that applies equally
across the whole region, such as the Business Link network.