Business and investment

Welcome to Plymouth, the second largest city on the south coast of England and, after Bristol, the largest in the south west with a resident population of 250,700 and a further 100,000 in its travel-to-work area.

Located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, with Dartmoor National Park to the north, the natural harbour of Plymouth Sound to the south and the rivers Plym and Tamar on either side, this vibrant and cosmopolitan city combines the advantages of city living with the benefits of having the countryside and coastline of Devon and Cornwall on its doorstep.

Plymouth has a rich and fascinating past, based largely on its seafaring tradition and strong links with the military, but considerable diversification has taken place with the city now boasting a very varied industrial base with the electronic, healthcare, advanced engineering, creative, boat building and call centre sectors being well represented.

Plymouth has made huge strides in recent times, transforming itself into one of the great cities in the country, and is currently going through a very exciting period in its history, with the scale of regeneration taking place second only to the post war reconstruction period. A number of regeneration initiatives have been adopted for the city.

The local economic strategy

The Local Economic Strategy sets out a clear joined-up framework for the transformation of the local economy, with the public, private and voluntary sectors and sub-regional partners coming together to produce a set of actions to enable this transformation.

A local delivery vehicle, in the form of a City Development Company, has been created to co-ordinate and develop the city’s economic and regeneration plans, including growing the city population from its current 248,000 to over 300,000.

The local development framework

The Local Development Framework is a set of documents that guide planning and development in Plymouth and provide a strong strategic framework to promote investment, guide development and safeguard the built and natural environment.

The local development framework is influenced by the Regional Spatial Strategy and Plymouth's Sustainable Community Strategy, as well as other national policies and both city-wide and area-based information.

The vision for Plymouth

'A Vision for Plymouth' has been prepared for Plymouth’s Local Strategic Partnership by MBM Arquitectes and AZ Urban Studio under the lead of Barcelona-based architect David Mackay. Launched in November 2003, Plymouth now has a clear vision and knows exactly how it is going to make the vision a reality.

Social enterprise action plan for Plymouth

Plymouth has a long tradition of creating and supporting social enterprises in the city.

For over 20 years it has encouraged their creation and been at the forefront of their support, even when the climate for enterprise development was not as favourable as it now is for the sector.

This activity has created a legacy of a mature social enterprise sector in the city, making a significant contribution to its economic and community life. There is now a huge opportunity for Plymouth to build on this legacy to strengthen and build the sector to address some of the issues it faces - disparities in wealth creation between wards, the inclusion of all its citizens in access to fulfilling economic activity, and the provision of services through a vibrant local economy.

The full Social Enterprise Action Plan may be downloaded from the documents table below.

For further information, please contact the Economic Development Team on 01752 304885 or email invest@plymouth.gov.uk.

The following pages provide a range of information for start-up companies and existing businesses considering expansion or relocation to Plymouth, including:

• Property
• Demographics
• Statistics/Financial Assistance
• Education
• Housing
• Quality of Life
• Transport

If you are looking to relocate your business to the city, or are already based here and have expansion plans, we are here to help. To discuss your requirements further, please contact the Economic Development Team on 01752 304885 or email invest@plymouth.gov.uk.

Documents

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Social Enterprise Action Plan for Plymouth - action plan designed to support the social enterprise sector in Plymouth. File format Adobe Acrobat (pdf) - 1.3MB

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