Irwin Mitchell Launch Latest UK Powerhouse Report

Sheffield’s growing reputation for advanced manufacturing combined with a retail renaissance in the city centre, has provided a welcome boost to the local city economy in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new study.

The UK Powerhouse report, which is produced with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), provides a quarterly estimate of GVA and job creation within 45 UK cities 12 months ahead of the Government’s official figures.

According to the latest quarterly edition of the in-depth report, the economy of Sheffield is said to have grown by 2% in the 12 months to Q1 2017 with employment levels increasing by 1.1% to reach 277,835.

The report highlights the growing influence of the advanced manufacturing sector in the city and also adds that despite a relatively poor Q1 for the UK high street, Sheffield provided a bright spark with an increase in retail activity following the redevelopment of The Moor which has drawn more consumers into the city.

Dorrien Peters, Head of Business Legal Services at Irwin Mitchell in Sheffield, said: “The impact of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) owes much of its success to the support of Sheffield University and the backing of Boeing, Airbus, BAE Systems and McLaren.

“It is something that we should be extremely proud of in Sheffield particularly as it not only creates jobs and greater prosperity across the city, but because the work carried out at the AMRC has the potential to be hugely beneficial to the wider UK economy in the future.”

Jack Coy, Economist at Cebr, said: “Despite the UK-level economic slowdown over the first quarter, it is good to see some bright sparks in local economies across the country. In particular, the best performing cities have benefitted from a combination of cutting-edge, productive industries and high-skilled workforces.

“Once again, this quarter’s City Tracker highlights the productivity of concentrated industry hubs and the power of urban agglomerations. These are typified by London’s fintech and digital start-ups, Cambridge’s high-tech Silicon Fen firms, and Sheffield’s growing advanced manufacturing cluster.”

The latest report also analysed the impact of the Financial Services sector on the UK’s city economies and within the ‘Financial Powerhouse’ league table, Sheffield came 7th in terms of GVA growth.

It says that Sheffield’s financial sector is on the up, expanding 28% from 2012 to 2015, with around 43,000 employed in the sector over 2016.

* GVA – Gross Value Added (the total value of goods and services produced)