Stoke-on-Trent’s economy is set to be the second fastest growing in terms of job creation when the UK emerges from recession, a new study has found.

The report by law firm Irwin Mitchell, which estimates that the UK entered into a recession in the second half of 2022, expects economic growth to resume in the second half of 2023. 

According to the research, Stoke-on-Trent’s employment level is expected to increase by 2.1 per cent in the final three months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. The study says that employment levels at the end of 2022 stood at 137,500 and by the end of 2023 this figure will be 140,400. 

That puts the city just behind Cambridge (with a 2.5 per cent increase) in second place and ahead of inner London (2 per cent) and Liverpool (1.7 per cent).  

The Irwin Mitchell City Tracker has been produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and examines 50 locations across the UK, forecasting future growth in terms of GVA and employment.

In addition to the strong performance with employment, growth of GVA by the end of next year in Stoke is expected to be 0.7 per cent which will take the size of the economy to £6.5bn. This is slightly below the 1.1 per cent growth expected to be seen in Birmingham but higher than all the other cities in the Midlands covered by the report.

The report says Stoke-on-Trent has been successful at attracting investment from the Government’s Levelling Up fund, which will fund major regeneration projects across the city.

Furthermore, there are plans for a Home Office innovation centre in the city, which will accommodate more than 500 staff by 2025, and the creation of a new Institute of Technology within the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP area.

Article and image taken from www.daily-focus.co.uk.

https://daily-focus.co.uk/2023/01/stoke-on-trent-to-lead-the-way-with-post-recession-job-creation-report-says/