The county of West Sussex stretches along the Channel coast from Chichester Harbour to Shoreham Harbour and has a population of about 765,000. It has good access to London, the Channel ports, and through London Gatwick Airport in the north of the county, to the rest of the world. It is a county of contrasts, reaching as it does from the outer London area to the tranquility through the Downs to quiet creeks on the coast. Gatwick Airport and Crawley form a major economic hub in the county and other important business centres are in Mid-Sussex and along the coast.
The county is divided into seven districts and has no very large urban areas. Its administrative centre is the city of Chichester, a busy business centre with a fine Norman cathedral. West Sussex enjoys a rich cultural life with first class theatres in Chichester, Worthing and Crawley, an active arts centre in Worthing and Horsham.
Key sectors
West Sussex has a diverse economy located across the county, not only in the larger towns of Worthing and Crawley and Gatwick Airport but also in the many smaller towns in Mid-Sussex and along the coast. It is strong in light engineering, car design, pharmaceuticals, new technologies, and the service industries in both the public and the private sectors. Other important areas are packaging, travel, transport and communication. Tourism is an important industry in many parts of the county. Although large areas of the county are rural in character, agriculture only accounts for a small percentage of the employed population, some 2 %.
West Sussex, with its beneficial location close to London, the Channel ports and as the home of Gatwick Airport, hosts the headquarters of many national and international companies, including Ciba Geigy, SmithKline Beecham, Upjohns, Thorn EMI, Rolls Royce, and cosmetic companies like the BodyShop.
Nevertheless, by far the greatest proportion of the 23,000 businesses in the county are small and medium sized, similar to the rest of the United Kingdom. West Sussex has a higher proportion of its working population employed in banking, finance and business services than elsewhere in the United Kingdom and, although it has a significantly « older » population that in England generally, and a lower proportion of 16 to 24 year olds, a higher proportion nationally of this latter group are students and in further education and training, providing a highly skilled workforce in the county.
Advantages and distinctive features
West Sussex is a typically English county with something for everyone. Good communication links make it an ideal location for businesses and its many small towns have good shopping, leisure and education facilities. Behind the traditional coastal resorts, lies a varied countryside with many fine gardens, Country houses, Norman castles, and attractive villages with traditional flint cottages.
West Sussex has always had close links with other parts of Europe – the Saxon Church of Bosham in West Sussex features in the Bayeux Tapestry for example!
A European dimension is important for the future development of the county. The County Council is addressing the challenges posed by hosting Gatwick Airport and has set up the « Airports Regions Conference » in partnership with Noord Holland Provincial Council (the site of Schiphol Airport) and 29 airport regions across Europe are jointly addressing issues such as aircraft noise, pollution, and the economic impact of an international airport on the local communities. Other European partnerships have been established to address the issue of e-government through a fifth framework funded project, Centuri 21, climate change and environmental conservation (Interreg). The county has links in many parts of western and central Europe, including a thriving Accord with the Regional Council of Upper Normandy and sees the Arc Manche developing from this as an important project in enhancing the quality of life for the inhabitants of the member regions.
Key figures
Surface area : 1,969 km2
Coastline : 80.5 km
Population : 762,930 (2001)
Density : 387.5 ha / km2
Active population : 370,190
GDP/capita : 23,348.2 (Purchase Power Standard 1999)
Unemployment rate : 1.2% (2002)
Repartition of the workforce by sector (1999)(1) :
- primary : 1.3 %
- secondary : 18.1 %
- tertiary : 80.6 %
(1)Surrey, East and West Sussex
