Biggest economy outside London

Greater Manchester has “largest economy outside of London”

Greater Manchester has the largest economy outside the South East, a new report has indicated.

According to New Economy’s Manchester Monitor, the region has the largest business base outside of London with 90,000 companies.

It also has the highest number of people in work outside of the capital, with 1,184,668 employees.

However, the area has shown a significant fall in the output of its construction industry, with orders worth £746.8 million recorded in the first six months of 2012; this is £171.9 million less than orders that were made across the same period in 2011.

In addition, the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) increased by 4.6 per cent in August, rising to 85,038.

Baron Frankal, director of economic strategy at New Economy, said that low house prices and the density of businesses will be a draw for talented people looking for affordable homes.

He added, “Manchester is still suffering from low productivity levels and worklessness – with its JSA claimants rising each month. Therefore the large scale projects and developments must be encouraged to continue, if more people are to able to find work in the region.

“We’ve already seen this with the success of areas such as Spinningfields in the city centre, and soon we hope to see it again with the development around the Co-operative Group’s new headquarters, NOMA, and the realisation of Airport City.

“If this scale of investment and vision continues across the region, Greater Manchester will continue to be a force to be reckoned with and will be able to hold strong its title of ‘the largest economy outside of the South East.”

By Kirsty Hewitt – EN Magazine