North West export boom in financial and professional services

Richard Bell

A new TheCityUK report has revealed financial and related professional services firms in the North West enjoyed a record year in 2016 in terms of overseas sales, with exports up by 13% to £6.6bn.

Nationally, industry exports were up by 15.8% to a total of £95.7bn.

TheCityUK is a private-sector membership body and industry advocacy group promoting the financial and related professional services industry of the UK.

Its report, ‘Exporting from across Britain,’ demonstrates for the first time the extent to which financial and related professional services firms based in the North West export their services to the rest of the world.

Financial services exports were equivalent to two thirds (67%) of the industry’s total output in the region in 2015.

Richard Bell, TheCityUK city chair for Manchester, said, “Manchester, alongside Liverpool and the rest of the North West, has a proud history of manufacturing, trade and export. It was the first industrialised city in the world.

“But today our exports in services, £17.6bn in 2015, is fast catching up to those of goods, £27bn in the same year.

“Financial Services is a critical and fast growing part of this – bringing new jobs and prosperity to Manchester and the wider North West. We should take pride in this industry and continue to build our increasing international reputation as a dynamic and independent financial centre.”

Anjalika Bardalai, chief economist and head of research, TheCityUK, said, “While London is an important piece of the puzzle, over half the industry’s exports come from elsewhere – £6.6bn from the North West alone.

The report shows that the South East was the largest exporter of financial and related professional services outside London in 2016 (£11.6bn), followed by Scotland (£7.2bn) and the North West (£6.6bn).

The UK is the world’s leading net exporter of financial services, with a trade surplus of $77bn (£57bn) in 2016. This is nearly twice that of the next leading country, the US, at $41bn (£31bn).

Region/Nation 2015 FRPS* exports (£bn) 2016 FRPS* exports (£bn) Increase
London 39.7 46.6 17%
South East 10.5 11.6 10%
Scotland 6.6 7.2 9%
North West 5.9 6.6 13%
East of England 4.2 5.2 23%
South West 3.8 4.6 19%
Yorkshire and the Humber 3.3 4.0 22%
West Midlands 3.4 3.9 14%
Wales 2.0 2.2 11%
East Midlands 1.9 2.2 17%
North East 1.3 1.7 29%
Great Britain** 82.6 95.7 15.8 %

*Financial and related professional services (finance, insurance, accountancy, legal services, management consultancy and business services).
** Data unavailable for Northern Ireland

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