Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP) has announced that in recent years Worcestershire’s productivity growth was the highest in England.
The most recent statistics released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), showed that Worcestershire’s productivity grew by 2.7% between 2012-13, the fastest rate out of all 39 LEP areas.
The ONS Subregional Productivity report showed that productivity, which in this case is measured by GVA per hour worked, in the County exceeded other areas. GVA per hour worked indicates how efficiently the labour force creates market-ready goods and services. This measure is strongly linked with business innovation and growth, as well as investment in skills and infrastructure, and so is excellent news for the County.
Today’s announcement is following recent success of Worcestershire being the third fastest growing economy between 2008-13. The County remains ambitious to achieve further economic growth and last month (21-23 October 2015) profiled what the County has to offer to investors and developers at MIPIM UK, the UK’s largest exhibition and conference for property professionals at Olympia, London.
Tomorrow (13 November), the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership will hold its 2015 fully-booked Annual Conference which invites businesses to play a greater part in the County’s future economic growth and the work of the Local Enterprise Partnership. Keynote speeches will be delivered by Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, and Irene Graham CEO of the Scale-Up Institute.
Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “The Government is committed to making the Midlands an engine for growth and Worcestershire is leading the way with the highest rise in productivity of anywhere in England. With high employment rates, a strong skills base, and plenty of local support businesses are well placed to grow and create jobs.”
Gary Woodman, Executive Director of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The fact that Worcestershire is leading the way nationally in terms of productivity growth is the latest in a string of fantastic achievements for the County.
“All partner organisations are committed to delivering our 10-year Strategic Economic Plan to achieve a GVA growth of £2.9bn and 25,000 jobs by 2025 and we remain confident in our aims. All partners in the Local Enterprise Partnership recognise the challenges we still face to bring even greater economic growth in the coming years and today’s announcement shows the great strides that have already been taken.”
Cllr Adrian Hardman, Leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: “It is great news to hear that Worcestershire has been able to grow its productivity at a rate faster than anywhere else in England.
“It is achievements like these which really stand out to those businesses who are looking to invest and work in the County. Significant investment is being made, for example, in infrastructure improvements which will benefit the long-term prosperity of Worcestershire and today’s announcement is yet more evidence of the growing success of our local businesses.”