Marked improvement in skills levels in region’s cities according to Good Growth report

The cities of the North West have seen a marked improvement in skills, according to the annual Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities Index.

The Index created by the Big Four and the independent think tank ranks 51 of the UK’s largest cities (generally considered those with populations of at least 350,000 people), plus the London boroughs as a whole, based on the public’s assessment of 12 economic measures, including jobs, health, income, safety and skills, as well as work-life balance, housing, travel-to-work times, income equality, high street shops, environment and business start-ups.

But an unprecedented need for co-operation between the new government, local authorities and businesses in the regions will be needed to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. 

PwC’s chief markets officer Carl Sizer said an ambitious legislative agenda seeks to turn the dial on key issues holding back the UK’s economic growth, but noted this is against a backdrop of a challenging fiscal environment.

“Successful delivery will hinge on a level of close collaboration and innovation between national, local and regional governments, businesses, academia and the third sector that has historically rarely been seen,” Sizer said.

But great comfort will be taken by the improved performance on skill levels across Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Warrington & Wigan have all out performed their previous performance on skills, compared to data from 2019-21.

Bizarrely, “Warrington and Wigan” are coupled together as one entity, despite one borough being in a Combined Authority and the other in a neighbouring unitary.

The report estimated that the North West is in line with the UK average, and is expected to grow by 1.1% in 2024 and 1.8% in 2025, making it the fifth fastest growing region out of 12 in the UK next year.

Adam Waller, Market Senior Partner for PwC Manchester, said: “I’m really pleased to see the North West performing so well in relation to skills, as this will be key to creating opportunities and prosperity. The region is working hard to ensure that our people have knowledge and experience that’s fit for the future, and with programmes to support this, such as the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Skills Bootcamps, and the work the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has been doing on their economic strategy, cities across the North West are well placed to continue this work. 

“It’s also great to see some positive predictions in terms of economic growth. Sectors such as transportation, professional services and STEM industries are all expected to see high growth, and with a large number of companies in these areas calling the North West home, I hope that we’ll continue to see progress over the next few years.”

The highest ranking city in the region is Preston, which sits at 15th in the index, and only scores lower than the UK average on three out of the twelve indicators – health, safety and highstreets. Warrington & Wigan ranks at 28th in the index, followed by Liverpool (34th) and Manchester (46th).

Across the North West, the rankings out-performed the UK average for work-life balance, and are either above or in line with the UK average for house price to earnings, transport and income distribution. 

The highest priority for those living in the region is income. While this is consistent with the national picture, individuals in the region see this as an even greater priority than the rest of the UK on average. Jobs, health and new businesses are also top priorities, whereas income distribution, environment and safety have all decreased in importance compared to the rest of the country.

PwC’s research shows that the public are most focussed on issues impacting their financial wellbeing, with measures such as income, jobs, and housing seeing the biggest increase in importance to the public. This shift in priorities has impacted cities’ performances, with the historically strong performing cities of Oxford and Milton Keynes seeing the most significant declines in scores, performing less well on income distribution, housing and high streets & shops.    

Plymouth topped the rankings this year.

Rachel Taylor, government & health industries leader at PwC, said: “Raising prosperity across the UK is needed more than ever as we continue to see growing inequality in housing, jobs and education. There is an increasing imbalance within and between neighbourhoods, which is being driven by disparities in access to quality education, jobs and housing. This is felt not only across different regions, but also between people living within the same postcodes in cities.”