Oxford and Reading have retained their top slots as the best places to do business in the UK, according to a study from PwC which suggests most cities have now fully recovered from the recession and downturn triggered by the global financial crisis
The Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities 2018 index places Oxford and Reading in first and second positions for the third year in a row, based on a combination of economic performance and quality of life.
The index measures the performance of 42 of the UK’s largest cities, England’s local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and the nine combined authorities, against a basket of ten indicators based on the views of the public as to what is key to economic success and wellbeing.
Southampton is gaining ground and beginning to close the gap between the top two cities and the rest of the index because of an increase in the number of new business startups in the city compared to last year’s report. Milton Keynes and Bristol are next on the list.
This year’s index sees Preston topping the most improved city rankings since last year, with other big improvers including Middlesbrough and Stockton and Wakefield and Castleford, which had previously been low performers in the index. However, PwC says much of this new cohort of improvers reflects the impact of substantial falls in unemployment rates reaching out across all parts of the UK.
John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said: ‘Almost all UK cities have seen improved good growth scores in recent years, driven primarily by cyclical falls in unemployment rates that have now rippled out from the south east of England to regions like the north east that were previously lagging behind.
‘But the more interesting perspective is provided when we look at the whole decade from 2005-7 to 2015-17, which covers a full economic cycle and therefore allows us to identify deeper structural trends.
‘The good news here is that successive cohorts of young workers have higher average skill levels, which is pushing up index scores together with rising rates of new business creation in most cities.’
However, Hawksworth warns that rising home buying and rental costs are pushing young employees out of city centre living and introducing long work commutes.
‘Having largely recovered from the financial crisis, addressing the housing and infrastructure supply constraints that drive these negative trends will be key challenges for the next decade for both central and local government, looking beyond the immediate issues around Brexit,’ he said.
Demos-PwC: Good Growth for Cities Index is here
Report by Pat Sweet
