UK’s most deprived areas see biggest surge in productivity
SOME of the poorest parts of the UK have seen the biggest bounce back in output since the end of the recession, according to new research out today.
Eight of the top 10 areas with the fastest growth in productivity are economically deprived, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. By gross value added (GVA), which is a measure of output and consumption, these areas have grown by more than 10 per cent since 2008.
The national average has been only 2.3 per cent.
Gwent Valleys, where unemployment stood at 14.7 per cent in September – nearly twice the national average – is one of the regions included in the top 10. Blackpool, where average weekly pay for full time earners is more than 20 per cent below the UK average, is second on the list.
“A lot of these areas have still not fully recovered by the collapse in heavy industry that started in the 1960s,” said Marc Waterman of UHY Hacker Young.