Latest Results From UK Powerhouse Report

Cambridge had the fastest growing economy in the second quarter of 2016 taking over from Milton Keynes, says a new report.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell’s latest UK Powerhouse report, which has been produced with the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr), provides an estimate of GVA¹ and job creation within 38 of the UK’s largest cities 12 months ahead of the Government’s official figures.

In the most recent version of the report published this month, Cambridge moved into top spot after recording an impressive 2.7% respective year-on-year rise in output in Q2 2016. Annual growth in Cambridge measured in the first quarter of 2016 stood at 2.4%.

Attributing Cambridge’s success to its relatively high share of service and knowledge-based industries, the report also says the city’s rate of employment growth in the same period increased to 1% compared to a year ago

The report predicts that the economy of Cambridge will grow by 25.1% over the next 10 years – making it the fastest in the study - and that the number of people employed will go up by 8.4% over the same period.

Expert Opinion

“The economy rebounded compared to the slowdown that we saw in the first quarter of the year boosted by strongly performing services, manufacturing and production sectors. The political landscape however remains very uncertain and all eyes will no doubt be on how our city economies performed in the three months after the referendum result.” Niall Baker - Chairman of IM Asset Management & Partner

Irwin Mitchell produced its first UK Powerhouse report in October 2015. The report predicted a growing economic gap between the South East and the north of England and made nine policy recommendations along with a call for the government to radically rethink how it looks to rebalance the UK’s economy.

1 GVA Gross Value Added