Uneven development in UK financial services: The case of the South West and Wales

The growth of UK financial services since 1981 has favoured the sought rela tive to the north and also specific locations, often regional provincial ca pitals. This is seen to have resulted from two processes. The first is dece ntralisation from Greater London, the second a relative 'hollowing out' fro m the peripheral to the core parts of the various standard regions. There i s also some evidence of inter-regional rationalisation. In Wales, Cardiff h as been the clear winner but has lost out in some respects to nearby Bristo l in the South West. In the latter region, there are a number of important financial centres reflecting relocation of insurance and banking from the S outh East in the 1980s. There is some recent evidence of rationalisation ba ck to the core in response to a variety of competitive pressures.