Northern Powerhouse update:
As part of an annual series, the latest ‘City Growth Tracker’ report is now available and provides an outlook for the UK’s economy across 2016. To view click here: UK Powerhouse A5 Mini Report.
This follows on from a detailed study – posted last December – which analysed the government’s wealth spreading agenda, and in particular its ‘Northern Powerhouse’ initiative.
Compiled by leading economic think-tank Cebr and top-20 law firm Irwin Mitchell, the study predicted that the gap between London and other regions of the UK was in fact set to widen over the next 10 years. Indeed by 2025, the report concluded that the Capital’s economy will have grown by 27% whilst the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ was set to grow by just 14%.
In the last few months there have been numerous policy announcements in relation to driving growth outside the South East, and some of the recommendations made in the above report are already being introduced. Much more however needs to be done to drive substantial growth across the UK whilst making sure London remains as a global powerhouse.
As official economic data sources can often be dated, Cebr devised a unique Powerhouse Tracker for the purpose of this initiative – a range of more timely indicators to create a ‘nowcast’ of GVA and employment for key cities across the UK. These indicators, used together, forms a comprehensive picture of how the regional economies of the UK are performing and whether or not ‘powerhouses’ are indeed developing.
To view the results of the latest interactive Powerhouse Tracker, visit www.irwinmitchell.com/ukpowerhouse
