Home > Media > Cardiff Fast Facts
Cardiff Fast Facts
Cardiff is the closest European capital to London
Cardiff has a population of 336,200 and attracts more than 14 million visitors a year
1.4 million city-region population.
18.3 million visitors per year
Shopping:
Cardiff was named the 6th best shopping destination in the UK by Experian in 2009. This was helped by the new £750million St David’s Dewi Sant shopping centre, built by Land Securities.
Conference:
Cardiff is a top 10 UK conference destination
Tourism:
The Frommer’s Guide ranks Cardiff as one of the 13 must see global destinations for 2008
Cardiff was described as the “epitome of cool” by renowned travel guide, Lonely Planet
The Millennium Stadium has been voted one of the seven sporting wonders of the world according to Barclays Spaces For Sports
Education:
The Cardiff city region boast 40,000 under-graduate students, 8,000 post-graduates, 6000 overseas students from over 100 countries, 9000 academic staff of which over 5000 are research or academic focused.
Cardiff has one of the best student retention rates in the UK.
Cardiff University is ranked 7th in the UK for research expertise (Research Assessment Exercise)
Cardiff University is now ranked as a top 100 world University (Times Higher Ed Supplement)
Cardiff University is a member of the prestigious Russell Group - formed by the UK’s top 20 Universities.
87% of Cardiff University’s research staff work in 5 and 5* schools.
Cardiff University is one of the UK’s top Universities for Bioscience with over 10,000 students, 2500 post-graduates, 500 doctorates, 450 research projects and an annual income of around £50 million.
Professor Sir Martin Evans of Cardiff University is the current Nobel Prize winner for Medicine.
Cardiff University is a top UK University for business consultancy – it enjoyed the highest income of all UK Universities from business consultancy in 2005.
Employment/Industry:
Cardiff was recently announced as the UK’s skills capital offering one of the highest skilled workforces in the UK (City & Guilds 2008)
40% of Cardiff’s workforce is in knowledge intensive employment.
Cardiff is home to the largest concentration of Media related employment in the UK outside of London.
Cardiff was ranked as the 4th city in the UK for growth potential by Experian in 2007.
Over 400 overseas companies have located in the Cardiff region over the past 30 years.
Cardiff is one of the most fibred cities in the world – with more fibre underground than San Francisco!
In 2009 Cardiff topped the list of the UK’s most travel-friendly cities according to a study undertaken by property consultancy, GVA Grimley.
Development:
The £1.8 billion Bay development of Cardiff - Europe's largest waterfront regeneration project, and the £102m development of the new Wales Millennium Centre, have helped launch Cardiff into the top five most favoured travel and business destinations in the UK.
Standard of Living:
Cardiff is a cosmopolitan city with more than 100 ethnic communities based in the city for over 100 years.
Cardiff is a city of parks and has more green space per person than any other UK core city.
Cardiff has been designated as the world's first Fair Trade Capital - encouraging ethical trading and fair prices for producers in third world countries.
Cardiff is one of the flattest cities in Britain and has more hours of sunlight than Milan
The Cardiff Bay development is one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe.
The world famous BBC Dr Who is filmed and produced in Cardiff
Cardiff is loved by its residents; a 2006 EU Urban Audit Perceptions survey revealed Cardiff residents believe Cardiff is one of Europe’s best places to live and work
Infrastructure:
Cardiff will become the first city in the world to benefit from a fully converged IP telecommunications network as the launch-pad for BT’s 21st Century Network investment.
Cardiff has topped a list of the UK’s most travel-friendly cities according to a study undertaken by property consultancy GVA Grimley
Cardiff benefits from one of the most advanced ICT infrastructures in Europe and is home to BT’s most prestigious International Data Centre
Property:
Grade A property prices in the centre of Cardiff are: 1/3rd of the cost of similar property in the ‘City’; 1/5th of the cost of the West End of London; and around 20% cheaper than Bristol and Reading
History:
In the 1900s Cardiff’s docks were the largest exporter of coal in the world and Cardiff’s coal exchange set the world price for coal
The world’s first £1million cheque was signed in Cardiff’s coal exchange
Cardiff played an important role in the industrial revolution – Trethivick launched the first steam engine to run successfully on rails in 1804 in the Cardiff area.
The Romans settled in Cardiff in 55AD and built a military fort on the site of Cardiff Castle
Cardiff became a city in 1905 and was crowned the capital of Wales in 1955
Investor Members
Gold Corporate Champions
Silver Corporate Champions
