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Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
is a city in south west England. Its economy has long connections with the sea and its ports. In the 20th century aeronautics played an important role in the economy, and the city still plays a role in the manufacture of aircraft. Bristol is also a tourist destination, and has significant media, information technology and financial services sectors. Reports released in 2018 showed that the city is growing exponentially with a projected 2.3 percent annual growth rate until 2020.


History

Bristol's economy has been prosperous since the age of the
slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. It was one of England's main slave-trading hubs and that by the early 18th century, this trade accounted for half of the city's entire income. It steadily increased its market share so that at its peak, it claimed 70 percent of the slave voyages to America. Financial institutions emerged to support it and while the slave trade has long been abolished, the banks have persisted. This is seen in the way the city enjoys one of the highest concentrations of finance jobs in the United Kingdom today. When the slave trade ceased, Bristol began transitioning into a manufacturing city during the age of
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. The rate, however, of growth was significantly lower than main industrial regions of Britain such as the Midlands and North. In the nineteenth century, the city's economy sustained a gradual decline. At the dawn of the twentieth century, it was 10th among the league of British cities. The economy began to pick up after this period especially with a series of economic reforms such as the change in the port administration. Industries began to thrive like those involved in the manufacture of cotton, tobacco, and chocolate as well as shipbuilding.


GVA

In 2012, Bristol's gross value added (GVA) was £11.7bn, accounting for 21.8% of the GVA of the Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area, 11.6% of the GVA of
South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...
, and 0.8% of the GVA of the UK. The economy of Bristol fared comparatively well during the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
of 2008–10 and continued to grow while most cities shrank, but in 2011 the economy contracted by 3.1%. Whilst Bristol's economy is in recovery, it remains 1.5% behind its peak output in 2010. Compared with other major cities, Bristol enjoys a high GVA per head value, £27,148, the highest amongst the Core Cities and overall fifth highest in the United Kingdom after London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow. ''excluding Bristol, included Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield''


Productivity

GVA per employee in Bristol was estimated to be £33,900 in 2012. Compared with other major cities, it is relatively low, behind all other major cities in the United Kingdom. Between 2007 and 2012, productivity in Bristol shrank 4%. ''excluding Bristol, included Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield''


Employment trends

In 2000 Bristol's unemployment rate was 5.9%, compared to 4.8% for the south west, 5.8% for England, and 6.0% for the United Kingdom.Office for National Statistics, 2001
Regional Trends, no. 36
.
In 2005 this was down to 5.2%, compared to 3.6% for the South West and 4.8% for the United Kingdom. In 2000, employment in the former
County of Avon Avon () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England that existed between 1974 and 1996. The county was named after the River Avon, which flows through the area. It was formed from the county boroughs of Bristol and Bat ...
area was categorised into the following sectors: Recent employment figures released by the Office for National Statistics Office stated that the South West region has posted a 79.4 percent employment rate, which is higher than the rest of the country, including major cities such as London and the South East.


Aeronautics

In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production at
Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
, six miles (10 km) north of the city centre, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and aero-engine manufacture by
Bristol Aero Engines The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable a ...
(later
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
) at
Patchway Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bra ...
. The aeroplane company became famous for the
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Bristol Fighter, and
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft. In the 1950s it became one of the country's major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the Bristol Freighter and Britannia and the huge Brabazon airliner. In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French ''
Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
'' supersonic airliner project. Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants by road, sea and air. The French assembly lines were in
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
in southern France with the British lines in
Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
. The very large three-bay hangar built for the
Bristol Brabazon The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a large British piston-engined propeller-driven airliner designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes between the UK and the United States. The type was named ''Brabazon'' after the ...
was available for Concorde production. The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips. The largest proportion of the British share of the work was the powerplant, the Rolls-Royce/Snecma 593. The engine's manufacture was split between British Aircraft Corporation, Rolls-Royce (Filton) and
SNECMA Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...
at Villaroche near Paris. The British Concorde prototype G-BSST made its 22-minute maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, the French prototype F-WTSS had flown from Toulouse five weeks earlier. Most of the employees of BAC and Rolls-Royce, plus a huge crowd, watched from around the airfield. Fairford was chosen as the test airfield for Concorde because the runway at Filton was rejected for test flying, its length was inadequate and there were problems with the slope, and the first 1000 feet (300 m) of the runway at its eastern (A38) end could not be used. However, from the end of 1977, all test flying on the second production aircraft
G-BBDG G-BBDG (manufacturer's serial number 202, known as "Delta Golf") was the British development Concorde built for evaluation testing. Along with the French Concorde F-WTSB, the aircraft was used to enable sufficient testing to allow for the Concord ...
was done from Filton, following the closure of the BAC Fairford test base. In 2003 the two airlines using Concorde (
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...
and
Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...
) and the company supplying spares and support (
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...
) made the decision to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. For the location of all the aircraft see
Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
. On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 ( G-BOAF) made the final ever Concorde flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection which until May 2012 operated a public museum in a hangar at Kemble Airfield, forty miles (60 km) from Filton. This collection includes Bristol-built helicopters and missiles The major aeronautical companies in Bristol now are BAE Systems, Airbus and
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
, both based at Filton. Another important aeronautical company in the city is Cameron Balloons, a manufacturer of
hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...
s. Annually, in August, the city is host to the
Bristol International Balloon Fiesta The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is an annual four day free festival of hot air ballooning in Bristol, England. Teams from the UK and other parts of the world bring their hot air balloons to the site and participate in mass ascents where ...
, one of Europe's largest hot air balloon events.


Port

The Bristol Port Company operates the surviving commercial docks of the
Port of Bristol The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England. They are now operated by the Bristol Port Company, which owns both Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks. Until 1991 the Port of Bristol Authori ...
at Portbury and Avonmouth. Since privatisation in 1991 trade has increased to 12 million tonnes per annum, with a revenue exceeding £75 million, making it the fifteenth largest port in the UK, tenth largest in England. The main trades are forest products, cars, containers, bulk (coal, grain, animal feeds, aggregates), liquids (petroleum, aviation fuel, molasses, fruit juice), metals, and fresh produce. Plans are in place to massively increase capacity by building a new deepsea container terminal capable of handling ships up to 12,000 TEU.


Film and TV production

Bristol has long been a major
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
production centre, based at Broadcasting House, renowned for its
BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
, and is a base of
ITV Wales & West ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales ...
. Oscar-winning
Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...
was established in 1972 in Bristol. In 2010,
The Bottle Yard Studios The Bottle Yard Studios is a British film and television production studio facility in Bristol, South West England. It is the largest dedicated production space in the West of England. History The studios are located on Whitchurch Lane, approxima ...
was opened in partnership with
Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 ward ...
, which in 2021 was credited with helping achieve about a tripling of drama production in Bristol since 2010. One of the two
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
Creative Hubs opened in 2020 in Finzels Reach.


Tobacco

As one of the largest ports in the UK, Bristol became very important in the tobacco trade. It is still the headquarters of
Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...
Group, the world's fourth largest international tobacco company. Imperial's group headquarters was consolidated into a new award-winning premises designed by architects AWW inspired environments and is located on the Winterstoke Road.


Former industries


Bristol Cars

The Bristol Aeroplane Company diversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, building luxury hand-built cars at their factory in
Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
, under the name Bristol Cars. The car manufacturer became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960. The company ceased manufacturing in March 2011 when it called in the receivers.


Coal mining

During the 19th century coal mining was important in parts of Bristol providing the energy for manufacturing industry. The coal field is part of a large area which stretched from the Somerset coalfield into Gloucestershire. All pits have now closed.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Economy of Bristol
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...