General Facts & Figures
Location
Coastal location at western end of South Wales approximately 190
miles (300 kms) west of London.
Area
The County Borough comprises an area of 44,217 hectares, with a
mix of urban and rural settlements. Urban areas include the towns
of Neath, Port Talbot and Pontardawe, while inland, there are the
Afan, Neath, Dulais, Upper Swansea and Amman valley communities
many of which have their origins in coal mining.
Population
With a population of 135,600 (2005), Neath Port Talbot is the
seventh largest unitary authority in Wales.
Economic Base
- 23.8% of jobs in manufacturing sectors compared to 14.2% in
Wales and 11.1% in Great Britain.
- Corus remains the largest industrial employer employing
approximately 3,000, compared to 12,600 in 1979 before slimdown and
various rationalization programmes. Other major manufacturing
employers include:
- General Electric (American) – Gas Fired Power Station.
- Hi-Lex Cable Systems Ltd (Japanese) – Auto Components.
- TRW Steering Systems (American) – Auto Components.
- Visteon Automotive Systems (American) – Auto Components.
- Orion Electric (UK) Ltd (Japanese) – Colour TV’s, Video
Recorders.
- Envases (UK) Ltd (Spanish) – Aluminium Cans.
- Crown Food UK & Ireland – Metal Packaging/Engineering.
- Toyoda Koki Automotive (Japanese/American) – Steering
Pumps.
- Borg Warner Automotive (American) – Motor Components.
- Cornelius Electronics (British) – Wiring Components.
- Excel Electronics Assemblies (British) – Cable Harnesses.
- Tedeco (Dutch) – Plastic Cups.
- Objective 1 funding for SME development.
- Tier 1 Assisted Area Grants, Assembly Investment Grant, soft
loan funding, training and other assistance.
- The Tourism Industry directly employs around 922 full and
part-time workers.
- Over 1.3 million people visited the area in 2003, contributing
an estimated £58 million of which £11.3 million was spent by
staying visitors.