It was Samuel Johnson who said: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” It seems that today there are plenty of businesses that are becoming tired of London. It’s not just Brexit that is driving firms out of the capital. Much talk of the Northern Powerhouse and the pull of government investment has enticed companies to head upcountry.

At PureComms, we know all about the Southern Powerhouse. Okay, we’ve just invented that, but with offices in Bristol and St Austell we have the inside track on why ‘West is Best’ for companies in any sector.

Here are our top ten reasons for choosing the South West for work…

Infrastructure…

At PureComms our lives revolve around connectivity and networks and we understand how important it is for businesses to be well connected. Earlier this year the Department of Transport announced investment of more than £61 billion over five years to improve road and rail connectivity across the country. Our offices in Bristol and Cornwall will benefit from this investment, although both offices are already well connected with strong links to the current infrastructure network – including the M5/M4 motorways which serve the rest of the UK.  You can reach London (from Bristol) in just over two hours by road and less than that by train. From Bristol, you can also connect by air to most major European cities and the USA. Newquay Airport in Cornwall (just over half an hour from our St Austell office), also has flights to London and destinations in Scotland and Ireland.

Education, education, education…

The Westcountry has some great universities. Bristol and Bath Universities consistently rank in the world’s top 100 and UK’s top ten universities and their graduates are among the most sought after by employers across the globe.  Plymouth University is the first to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark and has its own medical and dental schools. Exeter, too, offers a wide range of courses popular with students from around the world. It has two Cornwall Campuses including Penryn, which is unique in the country for its joint use of space with the highly respected Falmouth University and its world-famous School of Art.

Location, location, location…

This year The Sunday Times, no less, decided that Bristol was the best place to live in the country describing it as a small city that feels like a big city, handily placed for seaside and scenery, but hardly cut off from the rest of the country. “No wonder it’s first choice for restless folk looking to take half a step off the treadmill and swap a dismal commute for a brightly coloured period house within walking distance of work, and weekends on a surfboard or mountain bike,” they said. Cornwall is no slouch either with The Telegraph nominating Watergate Bay near Newquay as the best beach in the country. You’ll get more bangs for your buck too. Houses are above the national average (of £223,984) in Bristol (£262,984) and Cornwall (£214,504). That’s around 20-25% cheaper than the London Borough of Hackney where the average house weighs in at £550,230.

Plugged in…

No more moaning about internet speeds. Government investment and private enterprise has improved connectivity considerably, especially in the previously poorly served rural areas. You can work or play wherever you are even on the move. And many beachside cafes now offer you a high-speed Wi-Fi connection for free – along with a cracking Cornish pasty and a pot of tea.

It’s the people…

The Bristol and Bath City Region has a 700,000 strong workforce and the highest percentage of workers educated to degree level in the UK.  More people are employed in knowledge based intensive businesses than in Oxford and Cambridge combined (ONS), with the city region being home to a large number of corporates and businesses. Cornwall is home to a range of businesses and a workforce that is enterprising and creative. From small farmers diversifying into tourism or food retail, to surfers who opened a café or artists offering residential courses, they are making a living out of doing what they love alongside the regions larger businesses.

Great minds…

Businesses may be smaller in the Westcountry, but they understand the advantages of working together. Four Local Enterprise Partnerships in the region, which covers an area from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to Wiltshire and Dorset, have set up the South West Rural Productivity Commission which will look at the importance of growth (both urban and rural), productivity and prosperity, alongside connectivity improvements and housing, to ensure that growth strategies and interventions impact on all parts of the economy. However, it’s not just formal organisations like this that help the economy grow. Networking and informal meetings with a business neighbour might uncover opportunities for collaboration too.

Love arts…

Bristol has a thriving cultural life – from Bristol Old Vic, which is the longest continually running theatre in the country, to the Tobacco Factory Theatres in old warehouses saved from demolition in the 1990s. There are lots of artists in Bristol, home to Banksy and Aardman Animation, galleries, creative spaces and museums. Cornwall has been luring artists with its stunning coast, landscapes and clear skies for centuries. St Ives is home to a Tate Gallery too – the only Tate outside of London and Liverpool.

An appetite for the good things…

Turn to any good food guide and the Westcountry features prominently. If you turn to the Good Food Guide 2017 you will find that the best restaurant in the country is Nathan Outlaw’s place in Port Isaac. The Guide’s best chef of the year is Peter Sánchez-Iglesias of Casamia in Bristol. Lots of other Westcountry restaurants have attracted the attention of the Michelin judges too – Paul Ainsworth at No 6 and The Driftwood in Cornwall and Wilks in Bristol and Lucknam Park and Bath Priory nearby.

Quality of life…

The South West is home to the South West Coast Path, England’s longest waymarked long-distance footpath and national trail stretching for 630 miles.  It’s also home to Exmoor, Dartmoor and the Quantocks and 10 major cycle routes. Whatever your interest, be it a leisurely stroll, climbing, sailing, cycling or visiting a range of national trust sites and protected gardens, the South West offers it all.

And finally…

They speak the same language. Well almost. Don’t be alarmed if you are greeted with “Alreet my lover?” in either Bristol or Cornwall. The locals are just enquiring after your health. Other useful phrases in Cornwall would be “proper job” (something good or done well) and “dreckly” (some unspecified time in the future). In Bristol, proper job is replaced by “job’s a good un” and something that’s rather nice is “gert lush”. “Geddon”, as they say down St Austell way…