About the project
Invest Bristol & Bath, West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is made up of three of the councils in the region – Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
WECA also supports the Local Enterprise Partnership, which is business-led, and covers the four West of England councils, including North Somerset Council. Together, our aim is to deliver economic growth for the region and address some of our challenges, such as productivity and skills, housing and transport.
Key challenges
West of England Combined Authority (WECA) was aiming to develop a more coherent and strategic approach for international market engagement and prioritisation for Bristol and Bath in order to prioritise opportunities and deploy available resources more effectively.
How OCO Global supported
Through a five-stage approach, OCO Global conducted a review of regional priorities to identify common themes, actions and markets; Delivered a supply & demand side analysis of existing sector offers in region for both FDI and Trade; Reviewed WECA and partnership agencies to propose recommendations for international engagement activity by market; Conducted a benchmarking exercise and SWOT analysis of selected competitor agencies and draw implications for WECA; Conducted stakeholder consultations with WECA representatives to finalise findings and recommendations.
What was delivered
- Literature review of all existing materials, action plans and strategies that exist within WECA and the wider partnership.
- Supply & Demand side analysis that outlines those markets which show the greatest FDI potential for WECA’s priority sectors.
- A benchmarking report and SWOT analysis.
- Final report that presents the market prioritisation strategy with accompanying evidence.
