BUSINESS is booming in Warwickshire with new figures revealing the county has the fastest-growing economy in England.
Since the 2009 recession, Warwickshire has experienced the biggest growth in productivity of all local authority areas in the country.
The region as a whole is performing strongly with productivity in the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership area having outgrown every other LEP in the country.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show productivity within Warwickshire grew by 30.4 per cent between 2009 and 2016, higher than any other area, and nearly double the 16.5 per cent rate for the UK as a whole.
It means what the county’s workforce produced in a typical 37.5-hour working week in 2009, it now produces in 29.3 hours – so the workforce as a whole now generates in four days what it previously generated in five.
And it also means the level of productivity in Warwickshire is now above the national average.
Raising productivity has been a key focus of economic development activity by Warwickshire County Council, the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP and partners in recent years.
The area has invested in a number of initiatives to drive economic growth including Trident Business Park (Leamington), Venture House Business Centre (Stratford), and the National Transport Design Centre (Coventry University).
Investment has also gone into road improvements at Tollbar Junction and the M40 junction 12, and business support programmes such as the Warwickshire Rural Growth Network.
It has helped attract major companies to the area including such as Amazon, Jaguar Land Rover, AVL, Brose, Geely, Sega, Ubisoft and Vitsoe.
Warwickshire County Council leader, and economic growth spokeswoman, Coun Izzi Seccombe said: “Warwickshire has meant business for a number of years now. Economic growth is up there among this council’s top priorities and it is fantastic to see evidence of our partnership with business bearing fruit.
“It is great that Warwickshire is leading the way nationally in increasing levels of productivity and it is no surprise that businesses are increasingly looking to move to, or expand within, Warwickshire.”
Jonathan Browning, chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said it was important to keep working hard.
He added: “These figures are very good news for Warwickshire and our wider area. Driving up productivity and economic performance is a key priority for the CWLEP, working with partners.
“The aim now is to ensure that this growth continues right across our patch. We have so many assets and we have to continue to push forward on all economic fronts.”
