Research on propery in South East Wales demonstrates that the demand for employment property in Wales is driven by four key sectors: Business Services; Manufacturing; High Technology; Sales and Distribution.Not only is the number of companies requiring manufacturing accommodation falling, but the type of accommodation is also changing. The extent of accommodation required by manufacturing firms is diminishing and the majority of manufacturing demand is for modern, flexible units of between 2,000 sq ft and 3,000 sq ft.
The manufacturing industry is experiencing a decline nationally in the United Kingdom and the south east Wales property market has been heavily dominated by the supply of manufacturing accommodation in the past.Those manufacturing industries which remain in the region have been streamlined in the drive for efficiency. Modern, smaller units, therefore, are in greater demand in the manufacturing industry. Wales can provide low cost efficent units but there is a need to review employment land suitable.
In the past South Wales has underperformed in attracting high value users. There are a number of reasons for this including: the general perception of the region as one characterised by heavy industry and manufacturing; the perceived skill set available in the workforce; the cost/value gap associated with large scale speculative development and, therefore, developer confidence; the lack of suitable sites; and general investor confidence in the region. IT Sector is now the only sector that can lead on this.IT Engineers should be brought over from countries looking to invest in Europe as Asia is where they are now heading.
