ABSTRACT
The large and diverse South West region has shown one of the best regional performances in the 1970s and 1980s. This chapter attempts to analyse and explain the regional consequences of the transformation. It details the varying responses of the regions to the fundamental challenge of the time: the replacement of lost goods-handling jobs with service jobs, especially in information-handling. It then looks more specifically at the regional location of two growth sectors: high-tech manufacturing and producer services, with a detailed look at two of the latter, computer services and accounting. The chapter then considers specific regional case studies: the South East, the United Kingdom's consistently most dynamic region; the neighbouring South West, also a strong performer; the industrial heartland of the West Midlands; and central Scotland. Computer services provide a crucial indicator of the degree to which regions and places are moving toward the informational economy.
