Targeted campaigns aimed at attracting UK and foreign-owned firms to the West of England helped create a record 1,600 jobs last year.
The figures, released by inward investment agency Invest Bristol & Bath (IBB), were announced by recently elected Metro Mayor Tim Bowles. 
IBB said more than half of all companies it supported were new or expanding digital and hi-tech businesses. Nearly 800 jobs were created in this sector alone.
The figures exceeded IBB’s job creation target for the year. Investments came from a wide range of new international and national companies from a mix of industries including aerospace, advanced engineering, financial and professional services, the nuclear sector, distribution and logistics, as well as the hi-tech sector.
Mayor Bowles, pictured, announced the figures yesterday on a visit to cutting-edge, mid-air touchless technology pioneer Ultrahaptics, which is taking the global virtual reality market by storm.
He said Ultrahaptics was a prime example of how regional support can help a company expand.
The company grew out of the University of Bristol and its incubator SETsquared and was supported to locate its global headquarters in the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone. It has grown from three employees to over 70 in just over two years and has recently opened an office in Silicon Valley.
Ultrahaptics CEO Steve Cliffe said: “Working alongside some of our partners including Invest Bristol & Bath, which has supported us since we first moved in to our home at Glass Wharf just over a year ago, we are pleased to be welcoming the Mayor to our new expanded office.
“Bristol remains a great place for us due to the pool of excellent engineering talent in the area which provides us with the ideal base to build on our success and drive the next wave of innovation for our customers around the world.”
Mayor Bowles said of the IBB figures: “This is great news for the region and we must build on this, working together to make the West of England an attractive prospect for business and industry. I know how these investments can take many years to reach fruition, which is why we need to plan for the future and the types of businesses and jobs we would like to see in our region.”
West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) interim chair Prof Steve West added: “Invest Bristol & Bath has played a crucial role in bringing innovative new business into the region. These latest job creation figures illustrate what can be achieved by partnership working and targeted investment in key sectors.”
The Mayor is meeting with a number of key players in the West of England’s technology sector, which contributes £1.2bn to the regional economy and is seen as important growth sector with an average of 225 start-ups a year in the region.
He added: “Meeting local industry leaders from technology businesses has shown how when we create the right conditions a sector can thrive – Bristol and Bath is now the most productive tech sector in the UK. We will work together to skill up the region, support access to finance and improve gender diversity in tech.”
IBB, part of the West of England Combined Authority and LEP, helped 48 companies locate and expand in the region with 1,618 new jobs committed, against a target of 35 successes and 1,050 jobs.
As well as tech companies the other successes were mainly expansions of local aerospace and advanced engineering businesses, new investments from financial and professional services companies, and an increasing number of projects related to the nuclear sector and Hinkley Point C, including EDF’s 200 new jobs in Bristol.
IBB said there was also an increasing number of logistics and distribution businesses creating thousands of new jobs in the Avonmouth and Severnside Enterprise Area, including The Range new distribution centre which is creating more than 600 jobs.
