New Report Also Reveals Strong Economic Performance By Many Yorkshire Cities

Yorkshire was home to some of the best-performing city economies in the UK in the first three months of this year, according to new report which also revealed Leeds enjoyed strong employment growth across the same period.

The UK Powerhouse study is produced by Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and provides an estimate of GVA growth and job creation within 46 of the UK’s largest cities at least 12 months ahead of the Government’s official figures.

Published this month, the latest report revealed that Rotherham enjoyed the tenth highest level of GVA growth in the UK in Q1 2018 with a rate of 2.2%, while Doncaster, Wakefield and Hull all followed closely behind with growth of 2.1%. 

The GVA growth rate for Leeds stood at 2.0%, but there was even better news for the city in terms of employment. Its workforce growth of 2.3% across the same period was the highest recorded in the UK.

Looking to the future, Leeds is expected to continue to enjoy some of the strongest employment growth in the UK by both Q4 2018 and Q4 2028, but the outlook for Doncaster and Wakefield looks a little bleaker. Both experienced slow employment growth in Q1 2018 and it is expected to fall even further by Q4 2018 and Q4 2028.

In addition, GVA growth in Yorkshire is set to drop off in the long-term with none of the region’s cities set to feature in the top 15 by the end of 2028.

Paddy Sturman, partner and Head of Business Legal Services at Irwin Mitchell in Leeds, said:

Expert Opinion

“The current situation in Yorkshire looks fairly rosy and in the short term this is expected to continue.

“Leeds has performed particularly strongly for employment growth and this is set to continue until the end of the year. Financial and business services account for 38% of total output in Leeds and so will be behind a large proportion of the employment growth, while the city has a large manufacturing sector that employs over 30,000 people.

"According to our UK Powerhouse study, there are no Yorkshire towns and cities in the top 10 for GVA by the end of 2028. The fact that Northern cities are continuing to fall behind their southern counterparts highlights that much more need for more to be done to ensure Leeds and the wider Northern Powerhouse region can realise its true potential.”
Paddy Sturman - Partner