Wales University Connection Key to Cardiff Growth


A new report released by commercial real estate firm Avison Young has revealed that Cardiff is the fastest growing core city in the UK, with the Welsh capital’s population set to increase by 20% over the next 20 years and its economy forecast to grow by 7.2% by 2028.


This substantial projected growth is led in part by the city’s three universities, which continue to attract up to 70,000 students per year and represent a significant opportunity to retain talent for Cardiff’s growth sectors, which include science and technology and information and communication.


It is estimated that Cardiff University alone generated £3.7 billion of economic output in 2020-21, compared to an operating cost of £573 million. This output includes £883 million from research and knowledge sharing, which is boosting the city’s science and technology economy, a sector which is set to grow by 6.6% over the next five years.


Data from Oxford Economics, which appears within Avison Young’s report, also found that Cardiff University saw 164 spinout companies created between 2020-21, including start-ups established by staff and graduates.


This coincides with a particularly positive outlook for the city’s labour market. Over the next five years, job growth is forecast at 3.7%,


compared to 2.4% for Wales and 3.1% for the UK as a whole, driven primarily by growth in the professional, scientific and technical services sector (6.6%) and the information and communication sector (4.4%).


Cardiff’s information and communication sector has also seen considerable employment growth over the last 10 years, with a 126% increase in employment within the sector, which made it the fastest growing sector of any UK city in the last decade. Now, this trajectory of growth is set to continue, enabled by the city’s university population and graduate retention rate.


With a population boom, continued economic growth and the creation of new employment opportunities on the horizon for Cardiff, the requirement for the accelerated delivery of housing will also come to the fore. Between 2006 and 2023, a total of 21,323 new dwellings were delivered, which equated to only 52% of the requirement. Ongoing large-scale regeneration projects, including Central Quay and Atlantic Wharf, are expected to help address this shortfall.


Other notable ongoing projects which are supporting the delivery of improved infrastructure within the city include Cardiff Crossrail, which received £50m in Levelling Up funding last November, and Cardiff Parkway, a planned new railway station in the east of the city.


New £5 Million Paisley Business Park at Merthyr Tydfil Creating Interest From Local Businesses


Peter Constantine, Regional Managing Director for Cardiff at Avison Young UK, said:


“We’ve seen considerable growth in Cardiff over the last decade and it is apparent that this growth is set to continue – in large part due to the vibrancy of our city’s knowledge and professional sectors, such as science and technology, bolstered by the strength of our universities.


“Investment in infrastructure will also form a key part of Cardiff’s path to economic growth, as well as the creation of new housing to facilitate our anticipated employment spike – and our priority sectors will benefit immensely from enhanced connectivity to the wider region and the rest of the UK, setting the city up for a prosperous future.”


Helen Thomas, Head of Property, Wales and Short Sea Ports, at Associated British Ports, said:


“Across our five Welsh ports we have 600 acres of development land. Each location has a range of opportunities to contribute to the region’s growth agenda and we’re steadfast in our commitment to respond to the demands to decarbonise. With a range of green energy initiatives, from hydrogen to carbon capture and storage, and a multi-modal offer we are actively exploring and embracing ideas and locations suitable for a future-facing city.”


Wales to Lead UK in Growth of Food


The changing nature of industrial property market requirements in Wales is revealed in a new ‘Future Gazing’ report from global property consultancy Knight Frank.


Paisely Business Park Mertyr


Units to let in a new industrial and trade counter development on the Pant Industrial Estate at Merthyr Tydfil are already attracting interest from local businesses, according to property consultancy Knight Frank.


The £5 million Paisley Business Park development has been created by MKR Property Developments Ltd on the disused site of a former ICI works, and will offer 14 new warehouse and trade counter units to let from 904 sq ft to 3,810 sq ft for small and medium-sized businesses in the area. The detached, semi-detached and terraced units occupy a self-contained site with the provision for gated access.


Emily Wilson, surveyor in the Industrial and Logistics team of Knight Frank in Cardiff, said: “Construction work is progressing extremely well


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and the units will be ready for occupation by May this year. We are already starting to experience strong interest from local occupiers keen to grow their businesses in modern purpose-designed premises in a very strong location.


“As well as being ideal for local businesses we believe there is the possibility of interest in the larger units from regional or national operators attracted by the quick access to the A465 Heads of the Valleys road and the A470. Paisley Business Park is the latest of a new generation of ambitious opportunities in the heads of the valleys being created by major investment along the A465 and direct Welsh Government investment in the area.”


More information is available from Knight Frank in Cardiff.


The research examining trends in the UK’s industrial and logistics sector shows that a steady move away from heavy industry towards other types of manufacturing is set to continue in Wales, which is forecast to lead the rest of the UK in the growth of food manufacturing, while South Wales will also continue to strengthen its logistics capability.


Food production is the UK’s largest manufacturing subsector by output, accounting for around 18% of UK manufacturing output, and is set to


grow faster than the overall


manufacturing sector over the next five years. Of this, Wales is forecast to be the UK’s fastest-growing region with 5.7 per cent growth for food products, beverages and tobacco manufacturing by 2028, compared with a national average of 4.7 per cent growth.


COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2024

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