Last month (8 March) the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership revealed that the County’s economic growth continues to go from strength to strength.
The latest statistics released by the Office of National Statistics have shown that the County’s productivity between 2009 – 2014 grew on average by 3.1% in terms of GVA per hour worked, placing second of all 39 LEP areas. Worcestershire also achieved 2.8% growth in terms of GVA per hour worked between 2013 – 2014, also placing second of all LEP areas.
The economy has also grown on average by 4.5% over the last five years (2009-2014), putting Worcestershire in fourth position nationally for economic growth.
The latest data builds on the consistently positive results for the County. The fact that Worcestershire has maintained a top position of fourth nationally out of all 39 LEP areas for economic growth is good news and shows that the County’s businesses are continuing to grow and thrive.
The results for productivity, with previous statistics finding that the County’s productivity growth was the best in England during 2012-13, indicates that the County’s labour force are creating valuable market-ready goods and services more efficiently. This measure is strongly linked with business innovation and growth, as well as investment in skills and infrastructure, and is therefore excellent news for the County.
Gary Woodman, Executive Director of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Significant investment is being made for the long term prosperity of the County and alongside the drive and innovation shown by our local businesses, these statistics show how our local economy is benefiting and how Worcestershire is a great place to invest and work.”
“We continue to be ambitious and all partner organisations are working together to tackle further challenges to increase productivity and grow the economy further. I would encourage businesses to be more involved in the work of the partnership and to register for our Business Plan workshop on 13 April 2016 so that together we can achieve our targets of a GVA growth of £2.9bn and 25,000 jobs by 2025.”
Cllr Dr Ken Pollock, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy, Skills and Infrastructure, said: “We are delighted that Worcestershire’s economic growth is among the best in the country. There has been great investment in the County over recent years, with Game Changer sites such as Worcester Six having the potential to create tens of thousands of new jobs in Worcestershire. We are keen to continue attracting and supporting investment, innovation and growth, and these results are fantastic news for Worcestershire.”
In the last year, Worcestershire has seen a host of achievements all of which are available to view in the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Annual Report, with copies available on request.