The Secret is Out!
When I first say to people who haven’t been there for years “Newport is Special” they often laugh. Newport! “Is A Special Case,Not A Special Place” someone once muttered! I don’t wish to be contrary, but these moaners & groaners are wrong! Why? Well, I’ll tell you.

Firstly, in the property industry, the phrase “Location,Location, Location” is often used to describe areas with favorable investment potential. In my opinion, Newport has it all! It is about mid-way between Bristol in the east, & Cardiff in the west. It is situated right on the M4. 35 mins or so will deliver you to either of these vibrant Severn estuary powerhouses. That alone makes Newport the definitive centre of the new powerhouse region. In fact central Cardiff is only 12 minutes by a very frequent train service. No sooner are you on the train than you need to get off!

Secondly, it has an entrepreneurial and committed council who really care about the city and its 145,000 or so inhabitants. They want progress and were willing to put their reputations on the line in 2010 by backing the brilliant Friars Walk shopping development in the city centre. They had many critics then, but not so many now!

Thirdly, Newport, is situated on the UKs national rail network and is programmed for the line to be electrified before 2020, bringing everywhere, including London, much closer in terms of travel time. Millions of pounds have been spent on upgrading Newport’s City Centre railway station in preparation.

Fourthly, the City has great rail and road links to it’s surrounding areas,which means that as leisure developments, such as the new city centre multiplex, and shopping centre are completed, thousands of customers will come in from the valleys and other places, bringing with them wealth and prosperity in a way never seen before in Newport.

Fifthly, Newport is a genuine “Severnside powerhouse” member and will benefit exponentially from its inclusion in the trio of powerful regional cities, which includes Bristol, & Cardiff.

Sixth, it is close to Bristol International and Cardiff Airports and only about two hours from the World’s busiest airport, Heathrow.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say, Newport is a great place to invest, it’s as simple as that! Swansea has a premiership football team, Cardiff had one, why not Newport? It’s down to a state of mind! Anything is possible with positive thought. Premiership football and Rugby bring huge revenues to places that have successful clubs, so as I say, why not Newport? What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve! I didn’t say that first of course, Napoleon Hill did- but I believe it totally. I have believed it all my life.

Newport is genuinely on the rise. It is a city which remembers it’s past, but is firmly rooted in its future. Who wants to live in the past when the future is so bright?

When I started writing this I gave six good reasons why Newport residents should believe that their City is as good as anywhere and can emerge into a serious regional economic power. I now give you 145,000 others! It’s people. There is the diversity of skills, and a reservoir of talent, which equals it’s rivals. It’s just belief in it’s destiny that’s missing at times. For Newport to take it’s place as a ‘destination city’ it must believe in itself.