“A POWERHOUSE WAITING TO HAPPEN”

Katherine Bennett

Last November, taking inspiration from the successful Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine, The West of England revealed it was joining forces with South Wales to pool cross-border skills and expertise on both sides of the Severn estuary.

For Katherine Bennett, Senior Vice President of Airbus and now Chair of the Western Gateway, this is an exciting project.

“South Wales and Western England has long been a powerhouse waiting to happen, and has phenomenal potential to drive Britain’s cleaner, greener and inclusive future,” she said.

“Together we could add more than £56 billion to the UK economy by 2030, releasing the untapped potential of our cities, towns and villages, making a huge difference to people’s lives”

“Having lived and worked in the area for the last 15 years, it is super to have an opportunity to help shape that potential. Bringing people together around this agenda is a privilege.

“We believe we could benefit the UK economy through excelling at innovation and transition to a greener economy. We are developing our priorities, which will speak to our three main ambitions: improving physical and digital connectivity; increasing export and investment-led growth; and sparking more collaboration and innovation in our distinctive high-tech sectors, universities and R&D assets.”

“Together we could add more than £56 billion to the economy by 2030, releasing the untapped potential in our cities, towns and villages, making a huge difference to people’s lives.

“We offer great places to invest, live and work. Strong industries such as advanced manufacturing and engineering; creative, digital and cyber; and finance, business and professional services already thrive across the area. We also offer growth sectors such as clean energy and low carbon, health and life sciences.”

The removal of the tolls on the Severn Crossings has helped, says Katherine, but she’s keen to strengthen digital connectivity and emphasise the value of relationships rather than focusing just on physical infrastructure.

“We want to make it easier for companies to collaborate while offering opportunities to make collective use of our soft power.

“I am enjoying learning about businesses in different sectors to mine. From the perspective of my own employer, where we have employees who travel to our sites in Newport, Bristol or Chippenham, we can see the advantages of working across county borders and I am happy to share that story.”

But there are others issues the Western Gateway should tackle, she added.

“The vital challenge of decarbonisation and net zero and making sure that economic growth is as clean as possible must be baked into our work from the outset.”

Western Gateway is to commission an Independent Economic Review to help develop its medium-to-long-term work.

“I have been bowled over by the enthusiasm of local authority leaders, combined authorities, LEPs, business organisations and government to support the formation of the Western Gateway, added Katherine.

“We have come so far because of their work already in the areas they represent. I’m really conscious of the need to engage with people and go on this journey together. Much of my time so far has been spent on forming those relationships and over the coming year the partners plan to work together to bring people on the journey and work in a balanced, evidence-driven way to build our longer-term vision and strategy.”