Swansea is served by some of the UK's largest and most prestigious businesses including government organisations such as the DVLA.
Given it's superb transport links detailed here in my article on Swansea's transport links make it a great place for businesses to invest, and they have.
The DVLA's main offices are based in Swansea
According to market data from the U.K. Government referenced here the DVLA employed 5859 people directly in 2014 with the vast majority of those being employed in Swansea.
Other large employers include Amazon who have placed their base that serves the majority of Wales here, but why?
Swansea has a large enough population to cope with demand fluctuations, geographically it is the furthest city to the west that can serve the vast rural areas of Wales whilst providing enough staff to do so.
It's northern border is defined by the M4 which it has multiple direct links to, in fact Amazon's warehouses are placed strategically within minutes of the M4 corridor.
It is a central hub for rail with direct links to Cardiff, the western borders and ports as well as the rural areas of Wales.
In terms of distribution it is the perfect spot and one that I would choose if I were placing a large distribution facility to serve Wales.
I used to be involved in the car hire industry and we used a base just off of the M4 to serve Wales for similar reasons and were one of the most efficient branches in the country despite serving one of the most rural and vast areas.
The Amazon building in Swansea is huge and provides large employment opportunities, they are strongly committed to the area
Just to the right of the satellite image above the A461 curves upwards to the M4, to the left of it is a brand new multi million pound Swansea university campus built due to the increasing demand for the area and several engineering and tech companies.
But Swansea is not just a hub of tech and engineering, it also contains some major white collar businesses too such as a the head office of Admiral Insurance, a business with a £2.5bn turnover.
The view from the Admiral offices in Swansea illustrates it's potential as a port city, seaside resort and commercial hub.
Take a look at this Wales Online article about the top 100 businesses served by employees from the Swansea Bay region with many being based directly in or within commutable reach of Swansea itself
Major employers in Swansea include manufacturing facilities operated by 3M UK plc, Alberto-Culver, Bemis, International Rectifier, Morganite Electrical Carbon, and Pure Wafer.
Major service sector employers include Admiral Insurance, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), NTL, BT Group, Conduit, Tesco and South West Wales Publications.
Large public sector employers include the City and County of Swansea council, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, HM Land Registry, Welsh Assembly Government, Department for Work and Pensions, Swansea University, Swansea Metropolitan University, and Swansea NHS Trust.
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