Look at Yorkshire and Humberside

A February 2004 government report (‘The Northern Way’) called for new proposals to harness the untapped potential for economic growth in the north of England along key economic and transport corridors. The resulting strategy is planned to establish the north of England as an area of exceptional opportunity, combining a world-class economy with a superb quality of life, developing this by 2025. The strategy includes:

- making northern cities more attractive places to live and work in, and visit

- ensuring that universities are world class, and work with businesses

- supporting more businesses and attracting more entrepreneurs

- helping companies to compete globally

- creating a skilled workforce and reducing numbers out of work

- improving road, rail, air and sea transport

- creating sustainable housing markets

- selling the north.

The north has immense strengths and assets:

- 14.3 million people live there

- it is home to a broad, diverse range of 700,000 world-class businesses

- its city regions are the main drivers of its economy – they accommodate most successful companies

- it is at the crossroads of nationally strategic east–west and north–south transport corridors

- it is home to some of the country’s best universities

- it has magnificent countryside and coasts.

By comparison with the rest of the UK, the north’s economy is underperforming. It has 24 per cent of the UK’s population but only 19 per cent of its businesses, producing only 20 per cent of the UK’s Gross Value Added.

In Yorkshire and Humberside, over £270 million is spent on research and development in the region’s ten universities – one of the UK’s highest regional figures. A total of 33 per cent of all UK Internet traffic is routed through Leeds, while 62 per cent of firms in the region have Internet access. Leeds is now the largest financial and legal centre outside London.

Unemployment (under 5 per cent) now stands at a 20-year low and has been declining continuously since 1996, and the proportion of regional employment in high- and medium-technology sectors is the same as it was in the early 1990s in the face of declining levels nationally. At 20 per cent of the whole, the proportion of total manufacturing employment is significantly higher than average.

More new firms are surviving longer, and the region is home to more plc headquarters than anywhere outside the south-east and to around 1,100 foreign-owned companies. York is one of the country’s two most profitable towns, with 85 per cent of the town’s top businesses reporting a profit. Of greater concern is the number of firms that are downsizing and the move of some call centres overseas.

The Humber is the UK’s busiest estuary, with 74 million tonnes (13 per cent of the total of 566 million tonnes) of sea traffic passing through during 1999. Immingham is the country’s largest port and handles more dry bulk cargo than any other; it is also the second-biggest roll-on roll-off port.

Yorkshire’s affordable housing and low cost of living means higher disposable incomes. The quality of life in the region is higher than in the whole of the south and the Midlands. Service leavers must accept that salary ranges are not as high as in the south, but there are compensations in terms of road and rail travel with few traffic jams, and low property prices.

Opportunities and skills shortages

The continuing serious shortage of LGV drivers means than anyone with a licence is in demand. Yorkshire bus companies have an ongoing requirement for trainee drivers. The North and West Yorkshire Fire Services recruit once a year, while there is a dramatic shortage in qualified tradesmen, gas fitters, electricians and plumbers. The rail industry is still expanding, particularly in York and Wakefield, while Dixon Motors currently has vacancies. The telecommunications sector has strengthened in recent months, but big companies subcontract work rather than employing directly.

Employers

The former RAF Finningley site is being converted into a commercial airfield resulting in 7,000 jobs over the next few years. Peels Holdings, the owners of the site, is interested in people who hold the appropriate skills (they can be contacted through RFEA Sheffield). A business park is being built at the former Sheffield City Airport to attract new companies into the area. By 2007, Boeing and Sheffield-based Castings Technology International will build major facilities on what will become South Yorkshire’s pioneering Advanced Manufacturing Park on the Waverley site.

Salaries

House price guide

The following prices are a rough guide only to property prices and are liable to overnight change as financial factors in the country as well as in the region affect housing.

Information courtesy of the Career Transition Partnership