The UK economy remains over 4% smaller than it was and the economic clock has turned back to 2006! A report produced by the Centre for Cities look at where our future growth can come from.
The report –Open for Business: The shape of business, enterprise and entrepreneurship across UK cities– suggests that private sector growth comes from two main sources – either through growth of the existing business base or through the attraction of businesses from elsewhere.
Centre for Citieshas linked the potential for growth with the number of business start-ups and the number of branches of national or international companies located in a particular city and Worthing, the largest urban centre across Coastal West Sussex doesn’t perform too well.
However, the report highlights two important areas of focus for policy that will attempt to support future economic growth;
- Encouraging enterprise – the entrepreneur is very important to a city economy and the report suggests two areas where public policy could play a role in supporting enterprise.
- Tailoring support to the specific needs of the business base
- Innovative public procurement – developing ways that support smaller, local businesses accessing public sector tenders
- Encouraging external investment through attracting inward investment into the area. But how? The report recommends that external investment can be attracted by
- through better communication with UK Trade and Investment
- creating a single point of contact for investors to communicate with
- Through making the planning system as flexible and expedient as possible.
To view the full report, click here