Sponsored by
Peterborough's economy 'well placed' for recovery
IN a week in which world business leaders at the Global Investment Conference in London have said the UK is the top place in Europe to do business, Peterborough's economy has been shown to be well placed to emerge from recession faster than other parts of the UK.
IN a week in which world business leaders at the Global Investment Conference in London have said the UK is the top place in Europe to do business, Peterborough's economy has been shown to be well placed to emerge from recession faster than other parts of the UK.That's according to an academic review comparing the East of England's prospects with similar regions across the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Peterborough was ranked second highest area in the region for economic output (gross domestic product per person) in the period from 1995 to 2005 and was just outside the top 10 per cent of all EU areas - ranked 124th out of 1,201 areas.
In addition, 2007 figures revealed Peterborough has the third highest knowledge-intensive service sector in the East of England and the second highest share of employees in high and medium-high technology manufacturing.
The report predicted these factors - together with the region's diverse economy - mean the area should recover from the recession faster than other parts of the UK. It suggested growth in the East of England could peak at four per cent by 2013 compared with 3.5 per cent for the rest of the country.
The upbeat forecast comes in a report commissioned by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) from ECOTEC Research and Consulting and Professor Robert Huggins from the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff.
Its findings have been welcomed by Councillor Gavin Elsey, Peterborough City Council's cabinet member for regional and business engagement.
He said: "This report carries a positive message for Peterborough's prospects and our growth plans.
"The recession has hit manufacturing, construction and retail industries particularly hard and caused increased unemployment in the Peterborough area. However, this report suggests construction may recover quickly and there could be strong jobs gains in business, financial services, personal services, education, health and retail later this year.
"The city council and its partners are also working to improve the higher level academic qualifications among Peterborough's workers so that it is better prepared to compete successfully in world markets."
The International Insight report used 23 measures of competitiveness to compare the region with other international world-leading regions.
It said: "Although this has been a serious recession, the region entered it in a better economic position than many other UK regions".
However, it added that lower than EU average participation in post-compulsory education is an issue that needs to be addressed "if the East of England is to continue to perform strongly against other comparative world-leading regions".
The full International Insight report is available at http://www.insighteast.org.uk
Peterborough has been shown to be well placed to emerge from the recession faster than other parts of the UK.
The claim comes in a week in which world business leaders at the Global Investment Conference in London have said the UK is the top place in Europe to do business,
It follows an academic review comparing the East of England's prospects with similar regions across the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Peterborough was ranked second highest area in the region for economic output (gross domestic product per person) in the period from 1995 to 2005, and was just outside the top 10 per cent of all EU areas - ranked 124th out of 1,201 areas.
In addition, 2007 figures revealed Peterborough had the third highest knowledge-intensive service sector in the East of England and the second highest share of employees in high and medium-high technology manufacturing.
The report predicted these factors - together with the region's diverse economy - meant the area should recover from the recession faster than other parts of the UK.
It suggested growth in the East of England could peak at four per cent by 2013, compared with 3.5 per cent for the rest of the country.
The upbeat forecast comes in a report commissioned by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), from ECOTEC Research and Consulting, and Professor Robert Huggins, from the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff.
Its findings have been welcomed by Peterborough City Council's cabinet member for regional and business engagement, councillor Gavin Elsey.
He said: "This report carries a positive message for Peterborough's prospects and our growth plans.
"The recession has hit manufacturing, construction and retail industries particularly hard and caused increased unemployment in the Peterborough area.
"However, this report suggests construction may recover quickly and there could be strong jobs gains in business, financial services, personal services, education, health and retail later this year.
"The city council and its partners are also working to improve the higher-level academic qualifications among Peterborough's workers, so that it is better prepared to compete successfully in world markets."
The International Insight report used 23 measures of competitiveness to compare the region with other international world-leading regions.
It said: "Although this has been a serious recession, the region entered it in a better economic position than many other UK regions".
However, it added that lower than EU average participation in post-compulsory education was an issue that needed to be addressed "if the East of England is to continue to perform strongly against other comparative world-leading regions".
The full International Insight report is available at http://www.insighteast.org.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.