Derby regains top spot as East Midlands’ fastest-growing city
Derby has overtaken Nottingham to once again become the fastest growing city economy in the East Midlands, according to a new report.
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 45 of the UK’s largest cities 12 months ahead of the Government’s official figures.
Published this month, the latest report revealed that Derby had the third fastest growing city economy in the UK across Q3 2017, with the rate of 1.9% positioning it behind only Aberdeen and Cambridge. The city’s position in the Powerhouse Table marked an impressive 27-place climb, making it one of the rising stars of the rankings.
Elsewhere, Nottingham was just outside of the top ten in terms of employment growth in Q3 2017, with the city’s workforce increasing by 0.8% to 225,639.
Victoria Brackett, chief executive of Business Legal Services at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Many major manufacturers in the UK have been enjoying increased competitiveness on the global market thanks to the weak pound.
“Derby has benefitted in particular from such depreciation, with factories for Toyota, Rolls-Royce and many others being located in the city.”
This latest edition of UK Powerhouse also examines the impact that the education sector has on city economies across the UK. Leicester was found to be home to one of the best-performing education sectors, with its GVA increasing by 18% between 2012 and 2015 thanks in part to the performance of its two well-performing universities.
It was also revealed that Leicester’s education sector was responsible for a 12% share of the city’s total GVA, the largest recorded in the UK.
In contrast, concerns were raised about Nottingham having the largest net outflow of people at recent-graduate age, with 5,000 people moving into the city but 11,000 departing.
