A PARTNERSHIP which seeks to bring investment to the west – including Salisbury and greater Wiltshire – has undergone a rebrand.

The Western Gateway Partnership covers an area stretching 150 miles from St Davids in Pembrokeshire, to Swindon and Salisbury in Wiltshire, with a combined economy of £129 billion.

Now, the group has worked with Chippenham creative agency Milk & Tweed to update its brand and build a new website.

The organisation said the project aimed to create a brand and website that reflected its ambition for the region and showcases its potential as a place to do business.

“We have a strong network of relationships with businesses and organisations across the region and we now have a website that reflects its potential,” said communications officer, Fiona Williams, who worked closely with the agency, which specialises in in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing.

“We needed a website that gives people a sense of how vast and beautiful the area is but also that it’s a great place to live and do business and with the help of Milk & Tweed, we have that now.

“It shows we are an innovative region with immense potential.”

The Western Gateway Partnership is made up of leaders representing 4.8 million people, as well as independent business representatives and economic development chiefs.

It promotes the South Wales and Western England and works with business, academia and local, regional and national government to enable investment in areas including green energy, connectivity and cyber & technology.

Ms Williams said Milk & Tweed impressed the partnership with its grasp of the brief.

“We work with local businesses where we can. Milk and Tweed understood our organisation and what outcomes we were aiming for,” she said.

“They kept us informed of the process , what they were working on and guided us through the project.”

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The organisation’s distinctive ‘G’ logo has been refreshed and the website given a clean, intuitive feel, she explained.

“Milk & Tweed took inspiration for the design from the Prince of Wales bridge, which connects South Wales and Western England,” Ms Williams added.

“It’s a key image for us as part of our strong brand identity and it emphasises collaboration and bringing together these two regions. The bridge element is indicative of that.

“We did some research recently to get a picture of our economic landscape and found that businesses in our region, on average, miss out on between £3 million and £9 million worth of investment.

“It shows, despite its potential, the Western Gateway region is under-invested compared to other areas across the country.

“Thanks to this work carried out by Milk & Tweed, we now have a stand out brand and a dynamic and interactive website that shows we are a forward thinking organisation with investible opportunities across our patch.

“The Western Gateway is set to be the UK’s fastest growing region outside London over the next five years and whether visitors are looking for information on partnership or the latest sustainable development projects, our website will make it easy to explore that potential.”

Milk & Tweed creative director, Jake Jeffries, said: “Obviously being a business from the South West, and me being born and growing up and still living here, this was a project and an organisation that was close to my heart, as it was for everyone here at Milk & Tweed.

“We are really proud of the project and all of us enjoyed working with the team at Western Gateway. It certainly sounds like an exciting future for the South West and we are really happy and excited to play a part in that.”

The new website is live at western-gateway.co.uk, and for more on Milk & Tweed, visit milkandtweed.com.