Welcome to the latest edition of Outlook Business South. The response to this new publication has been really favourable and it has been gratifying to hear first hand from Champions how much they value the information gathered on our behalf by experts at Hampshire County Council. Business South is delighted to bring this valuable information to you as part of your Champion package – and we would welcome any further feedback from you regarding the content. In this summer edition the highlights include: • Employment is up, out-performing the national average, and unemployment is down, although the Business South area continues to depend much more on self-employment and part-time jobs than the national economy • House prices are rising faster than the national average (up to March) • This quarter’s focus is on Key Sectors. The area shares many of its key sectors with the national economy, such as Finance and Business Services which accounts for the most businesses and the most jobs locally. But the Aerospace & Defence, Marine, and ICT & Digital Media sectors stand out as particularly local strengths within the area. We hope you find the information of interest, Sally Lynskey CEO Business South 1.Headlines 1 6. Focus on…Eight Key Sectors 10 2. Business and Economy 3 7. Local Enterprise Partnerships 13 3. Labour Force 6 8. Local Authority Districts 19 4. Jobseekers (JSA) 8 Notes 25 5. Housing 9 Introduction Contents
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Transcript
Welcome to the latest edition of Outlook Business South. The response to this new publication has been really favourable and it has been gratifying to hear first hand from Champions how much they value the information gathered on our behalf by experts at Hampshire County Council. Business South is delighted to bring this valuable information to you as part of your Champion package – and we would welcome any further feedback from you regarding the content. In this summer edition the highlights include:
• Employment is up, out-performing the national average, and unemployment is down, although the Business South area continues to depend much more on self-employment and part-time jobs than the national economy
• House prices are rising faster than the national average (up to March)
• This quarter’s focus is on Key Sectors. The area shares many of its key sectors with the national economy, such as Finance and Business Services which accounts for the most businesses and the most jobs locally. But the Aerospace & Defence, Marine, and ICT & Digital Media sectors stand out as particularly local strengths within the area.
We hope you find the information of interest,
Sally Lynskey
CEO Business South
1.Headlines 1 6. Focus on…Eight Key Sectors 10
2. Business and Economy 3 7. Local Enterprise Partnerships 13
3. Labour Force 6 8. Local Authority Districts 19
4. Jobseekers (JSA) 8 Notes 25
5. Housing 9
Introduction
Contents
Southampton Solent University – supporting small business
Southampton Solent is one of the first universities in the country to be awarded the Small Business Charter – recognising the University’s ‘exceptional levels of engagement’ among local small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
The award means that the Solent Business School can now access various government and other initiatives, including growth vouchers, growth accelerators and start-up loans to help provide support for SMEs. The university can also help SMEs to apply for matched funding programmes, providing the financial backing they need to develop various projects.
From courses to consultancy or cutting edge research, our academics and specialists can really help SMEs get the best from their business. And through partnering with the university to deliver ‘real-life’ student projects, businesses have the chance to encourage and engage with the industry’s next generation.
“Our message is come and talk to us”, says Professor Andrews, Director of the University’s Business School. “We are a university which is genuinely interested in working with the SME community and making a difference.’
Outlook Business South Sponsors
Capita
Business South Outlook provides an economic assessment of topics that directly affect our clients across a region where Capita is very active with strong presence in the markets in which we operate. Capita is delighted to be supporting Business South Outlook, which is providing insightful economic data for both Public and Private Sectors across the region. We are the UK's leading provider of business process outsourcing and integrated professional property service solutions. We transform and manage our client’s business operations in a wide variety of markets, employing more than 62,000 staff across the UK, Europe, South Africa and India. As a Group we work collaboratively with Public and Private Sector clients to develop new ways of working and innovative solutions for delivery of business and property related services. We have a strong track record in transforming services, saving costs, and delivering value for our clients, for our investors and for our stakeholders.
Vail Williams
Vail Williams has become one of the foremost commercial property consultants in the Solent region. We have one of the largest and most experienced teams in the region, operating out of offices in Southampton and Portsmouth – something unique, giving us greater understanding of local issues whilst providing an unparalleled overall perspective on commercial property within the region.
We work closely with a wide range of clients – corporates, owner/managed private companies, property companies, developers, trusts – across a diverse range of co-ordinated services relating to all property issues. Our clients trust us to deliver solutions centred firmly on their businesses. Solutions that add real commercial value and give them genuine competitive advantage. To ensure we do this, we spend time building strong professional relationships and work hard to understand our clients’ businesses and the markets in which they operate, always offering the most appropriate advice for the business.
Vail Williams is a long-established independent, privately owned Partnership with a network of offices throughout the South East, London and the Midlands.
1: Business South Area Headlines Summer 2014
Reported Qtr.4 Output and Costs against Qtr.3 by Businesses in the Business South Area
Overall
• Improving business confidence is still very much evident in the Business South area despite the two indicators above showing red against the previous quarter. Businesses are more likely to have reported the same or higher output than not. More importantly, quarter-on-same-quarter growth is up.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes the UK will be the best-performing of the world's largest economies in 2014, while the Office for Budget Responsibility revised their GDP growth forecast up slightly to 2.7 per cent for 2014. While the data used for the ‘Summer 2014 Outlook’ has yet to pick up these very recent positive growth figures the overall picture is mostly upbeat.
• Buoyed by confidence there has been strong employment growth nationally and locally, with the growth rate for the Business South area slightly ahead of the UK. Unemployment was also down on the year, while more up to date, but narrower, JSA claimant figures saw a reduction in unemployed benefit claimants.
• Eight key sectors in the area, which include marine, aerospace and defence; pharmaceuticals; and financial and business services, employ over 600,000 people.
• The house prices paid and the number of house sales recorded for the three months to March 2014 rose on the year. The spill-over from the London property market means on average prices paid were higher in the Business South area the closer one gets to the capital. Few areas saw prices paid below the national average.
Business & Economy
• Close to half of businesses surveyed reported higher growth (46%), placing it in line with the England average, though 2 percentage points down on Qtr.3. Quarter-on-same-quarter figures over the year saw output rise with a greater percentage of businesses reporting higher output.
• Costs for businesses in the Business South area (wages and other labour costs) generally remained relatively stable, offsetting a small increase in businesses reporting higher costs. Close to three out of four businesses (72%) reported no change, which was similar to the national average (70%). However, the very recent narrowing of wage growth to inflation would not have filtered though.
Labour Force
• The rate of employment growth in the Business South area was above the UK rate over the year. Estimates indicate 2.51 million residents in the Business South area were in employment, some 31,200 more than a year ago.
• The Business South area is experiencing more ‘flexible’ labour force change than the UK, with far more employment growth occurring recently in self-employment and part-time work.
• The unemployment rate for the Business South area saw a decrease of 0.2 percentage points to 5.6%. This was slower than the UK rate over the year which was 0.3 of a percentage point lower from 8.0% to 7.7%.
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Labour Force, Jobseekers and House Sales for Business South Area1
Housing Median Price Paid (£) 245,000 ~ ~ 232,500 +12,500 Number of Transactions 17,045 ~ ~ 16,108 +937
Sources: Economy (BIS) Labour Force (ONS), Housing (Land Registry). *APS unemployment. ~ Not applicable.
*1Reported Business data movement based on the same quarter in the previous year. Green Arrow: > 1 percentage point (ppt.) positive movement, or +500 house sales, Orange: +/- 1ppt. Red: > 1ppt negative or -500 house sales.
Page 2
JSA (Jobseekers)
• The narrower, but more up to date, unemployed jobseeker benefit claimant numbers and rates in the Business South area remain well below the national rate, although whilst falling, still remain above rates from before the 2008 downturn. Local residents also spent on average 4½ weeks less time on JSA compared to the national average.
Housing
• The annual percentage rise in prices paid and sales recorded in the Business South area for the three months to March 2014 outpaced England and Wales. Local prices paid were up 5.4% and sales by 5.8%. The latest median house price was £245,000, 32% higher than the national average.
Focus On…Key Sectors
• The Business South area has a number of key sectors based on LEP priorities covering production and services. Combined these eight sectors have 626,500 employees across 85,000 businesses. In addition, of all employees close to one million, working in 90,000 businesses, are involved in higher productivity knowledge intensive activities. The Business South area has 44% of employees in knowledge intensive activities, marginally above Great Britain at 43%.
• Financial and Business Services was the key sector with most employees (183,000) and businesses (34,000). Relative to Great Britain, the Marine and Aerospace and Defence sectors both have particularly strong local concentrations of employees and businesses.
2: Business and Economy Reported and Expected Q4Levels of Output
Source: Hampshire County Council from BIS English Business Survey.
The latest national growth figures saw the economy expand by 0.8% in the first three months of 2014, with most surveys suggesting a similar speed of activity in the second quarter. Output is now only 0.6% below where it was in early 2008. With output growing by 1.3%, UK manufacturing was one of the better performers with its strongest quarter for nearly four years. However, despite this positive trend, there is still some way to rebalancing the wider economy with the service sector still accounting for almost all of the overall quarterly growth. The UK with a forecast of 2.9% annual growth will be the best performing of the world's largest economies in 2014 according to the IMF. In response to recent momentum in the economy the OBR revised their GDP growth forecast up slightly to 2.7% in 2014 and 2.3% in 2015.
Output reported by businesses in the Business South area was positive for Qtr. 4 and Qtr. 3 with more businesses reporting higher output than the same or lower respectively. Close to half of businesses surveyed reported higher growth (46%), which was in line with the England average, although down on Qtr.3 (48%).
Looking at Qtr.4 quarter-on-same-quarter figures shows that output rose with a greater percentage of businesses reporting higher output. The percentage of businesses reporting consistent or the same output was virtually unchanged; so fewer businesses reported lower output.
When asked about their output levels most businesses across the LEPs had experienced the same or higher levels (p15). Output was particularly robust in the Enterprise M3 LEP (EM3), and the only LEP this quarter with over half (52%) of businesses experiencing higher output against the previous quarter. Comparing quarter-on-same-quarter i.e. Qtr.4 2013 to Qtr.4 2012, suggests a two speed pattern in output growth across the four LEPS. The EM3 and Coast to Capital (C2C) saw strong output growth of nine and 12 percentage points respectively. However, output growth was much slower in Dorset and Solent LEPs where growth was 1-2 percentage points higher. Business sentiment was reasonably confident with more businesses looking to achieve the same or higher output in the coming quarter.
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Within the wider UK recovery, reported output by local businesses was robust
Reported and Expected Q4 Levels of Cost
Source: Hampshire County Council from BIS English Business Survey.
Media and political attention given to wages and cost of living continues. For December 2013 to February 2014, total pay for employees in Great Britain was 1.7% higher than a year earlier while regular pay was 1.4% higher. Between February 2013 and February 2014, the Consumer Prices Index increased by 1.7%, and more recently fell to 1.6% in March.
From October 2014 the adult hourly rate of the minimum wage will increase from £6.31 to £6.50.It is the first time in six years that the rise will be higher than inflation. The Living Wage for the UK is currently calculated at £7.65.
Costs for businesses in the Business South area (wages and other labour costs) remain relatively stabile with close to three out of four businesses (72%) reporting no change. This is similar to the national average where 70% of businesses reported no movement in wage or labour costs. Nationally, 21% of businesses reported higher costs, against 19% of businesses in the Business South area, although this local figure is two percentage points higher than Quarter 3.
Looking at quarter-on-same-quarter trends for the two Qtr.4periods saw businesses reporting stable costs with the percentages unchanged. The same was true for businesses experiencing higher costs, although marginally fewer businesses reported lower costs.
Looking to the next quarter, businesses thought costs would remain broadly stable with over two thirds of businesses sharing this opinion. This was slightly below national opinion at 70% ‘The same’. Around one fifth of businesses in the Business South area (22%) and across England (21%) believe that wages and other labour costs will rise next quarter. Few believe costs will be lower at 4% for both England and the Business South area.
The same picture is painted across the four LEPs with between 69% and 73% of businesses reporting that costs remained the same (p15). Likewise, around one fifth of businesses in three of the LEPs experienced higher costs, whereas Enterprise M3 (EM3) was the exception with just 16% citing higher costs.
Going forward and to expected costs in Qtr. 1 2014, 65% of C2C businesses, 68% of EM3 businesses and 71% of businesses in Dorset and Solent all believe costs will remain the same. Just over one in four businesses in the C2C LEP (26%) think costs will be higher, which is notably above the other three LEPs (19%-21%). In keeping with the national and Business South area averages, few businesses believe they will be paying lower costs next quarter.
Page 4
Nationally, the wage gap closes, while local wage and labour costs remain stable
News from the Business South region
Source: UK Activity Report.
Job Creation and Planned Developments
• VesselsValue.com is to open a shipping information office in Ryde on the Isle of Wight in July, with the creation of 40 jobs. 01-May-2014
• Portsmouth City Council is to receive plans from Ben Ainslie Racing for a new sailing headquarters in the Camber, including facilities for research, fitness and visitors. 28-Apr-2014
• County Mall is to invest £5m in improvements to its Crawley-based shopping centre over the next year, including new lighting, signs and flooring. 28-Apr-2014
• CTEC Energy is to create up to 60 jobs at a new 15,000 sq ft heat recovery systems plant in Newhaven by 2017. 23-Apr-2014
• Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People is planning to build a £22m sport and leisure facility in Leatherhead. 17-Apr-2014
• Eaton is to expand the 182-strong workforce at its hydraulics manufacturing plant in Havant with 100 new jobs over the next five years, as part of a £2m investment programme. 03-Apr-2014
• Safestyle UK is opening new glazing installation depots in Bradford and Crawley, with the creation of 30 jobs. 02-Apr-2014
• Beacon Packaging is to expand the 95-strong workforce at its Aldershot-based corrugated box manufacturing business with up to ten new jobs. 02-Apr-2014
• EasyJet is to expand its capacity at Gatwick airport by about 10% over the next year, and may move its operations to the north terminal. 31-Mar-2014
• BMT Reliability Consultants is to create 20 new jobs at its engineering and risk management consultancy in Fareham. 20-Mar-2014
• Bytes Technology Group is hoping to expand the workforce at its new Leatherhead-based IT sales office from 170 to 340. 18-Mar-2014
Relocations, Mergers & Acquisitions
• Hampshire Trust, the Fareham-based bank, is to be acquired by private equity firm Alchemy Partners for about £10m. 29-Apr-2014
• Brownhills Glass has acquired Tufwell Glass, the Crawley-based glass processing firm, for £2.4m. 29-Apr-2014
• Rimor is to relocate its Hampshire-based subsea oil engineering business to a new 70,000 sq ft unit in Portsmouth next year, with the creation of 80 jobs. 22-Apr-2014
• Pegasus, the healthcare consultancy with 70 staff, is to relocate from Worthing to Brighton over the next few weeks. 17-Apr-2014
• AmberFin, the Basingstoke-based supplier of TV broadcast software, has been acquired by Dalet Digital Media Systems of France for undisclosed terms. 15-Apr-2014
• Environmental Resource Group has acquired Hazchem Waste Disposal and The Lamp Recycling Company, the Guildford-based waste recycling firms. 09-Apr-2014
• Elekta is to expand its Crawley-based clinical solutions business with the £4.2m acquisition of an adjacent site at Manor Royal. 09-Apr-2014
• Capita has acquired Updata Infrastructure, the Reigate-based IT network services firm with 160 staff, for £80m. 02-Apr-2014
Job Losses and Closures
• MGM Advantage is to shed up to 80 jobs at its Worthing-based financial services business, due to an expected fall in sales of annuities. 30-Apr-2014
• Kew Gardens is to shed up to 125 of the 750 jobs at its two sites in London and Wakehurst Place in Sussex. 31-Mar-2014
• B&Q has shed a further 100 of the 1,200 jobs at its head office in Hampshire. 20-Mar-2014
• Vitacress is to reorganise its salad production business with the loss of 25 jobs Eastleigh. 20-Mar-2014
Page 5
3. Labour Force
76.4 76.6 76.5
74.4 74.573.8
75.276.0
72.4 72.4 72.1
70.5 70.1 70.070.6
71.3
65.0
67.0
69.0
71.0
73.0
75.0
77.0
12 mths toDec 2006
12 mths toDec 2007
12 mths toDec 2008
12 mths toDec 2009
12 mths toDec 2010
12 mths toDec 2011
12 mths toDec 2012
12 mths toDec 2013
Employment Rates 2006 - 2013
Business South area UK
Source: ONS Annual Population Survey.
4.44.0 4.1
6.0 5.76.1 5.8 5.6
5.4 5.35.8
7.8 7.8 8.1 8.0 7.7
0.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.09.0
12 mths to Dec2006
12 mths to Dec2007
12 mths to Dec2008
12 mths to Dec2009
12 mths to Dec2010
12 mths to Dec2011
12 mths to Dec2012
12 mths to Dec2013
Unemployment Rates 2006- 2013
Business South area UK
Source: ONS Annual Population Survey.
Employment rates in the Business South area rose on the previous year. On this ILO measure the Business South area outperformed the UK (71.3%) over the year, with more recent national trends suggesting record employment growth. The rate of employment growth in the Business South area was above the UK rate over the year. There are an estimated 2.51 million residents in employment across the Business South area, some 31,200 more residents than a year ago. These local figures chime with recent Government figures for February 2014 showing a record high of 30.39 million people in employment (72.6%).
Employment rates in all four LEPs were above the national average, ranging from 74.3% (Solent) up to 77% (C2C) – p16. Annual employment growth against the national average (+0.7 ppts) was strong in Dorset (+2.3 ppts) and C2C (+1.7 ppts). The exception was EM3 with flat growth and fewer employed. Only four out of 43 authorities reported lower rates against the UK (p19).
Unemployment numbers in the Business South area stood at 150,100 and 3,100 fewer on the year. As a result, the unemployment rate for the Business South area saw a decrease of 0.2 percentage points to 5.6%. This was slower than the UK rate over the year that was 0.3 of a percentage point lower from 8.0% to 7.7%. Recent official Government unemployment data for February 2014 indicated a rate of 6.9% and 2.24 million unemployed people; 77,000 fewer people on the quarter. The unemployment rate was below the 7.0% target set as one of several indicators by the Bank of England for managing base interest rates.
Unemployment rates across the four LEPs were lower than the UK average (7.7%), ranging from 4.7% (EM3) to 6.2% (Solent). Annual unemployment rates and levels fell for the C2C and Dorset LEPs, but saw an increase in the EM3 and Solent LEPs. Just three local authorities reported higher unemployment rates compared to the UK: Croydon, Isle of Wight and Southampton.
Strong employment growth and lower unemployment
Page 6
Employment Trends
60.4 62.8
9.2 10.8
60.563.9
9.5 10.9
61.164.1
9.7 11.5
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
UK Employee Bus. South areaEmployee
UK Self-employed Bus. South areaSelf-employed
% Employees or Self-employed
12 mths to Dec 2011 12 mths to Dec 2012 12 mths to Dec 2013
74.1 72.8
25.7 27.1
73.8 73.1
25.7 26.7
74.1 72.1
25.5 27.6
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
UK Full-time Bus. South areaFull-time
UK Part-time Bus. South areaPart-time
% in Employment by Full and Part-time status
12 mths to Dec 2011 12 mths to Dec 2012 12 mths to Dec 2013
Source for charts and graphic: ONS Annual Population Survey.
The Business South area has a very different labour market to the UK, perhaps reflecting a more ‘flexible’ work force. Employee levels grew by 0.4% between 2013 and 2012, compared to 1.1% nationally. This added 8,900 more employees locally over the period to 2.1 million employees. This contrasts with self-employment in the Business South area that grew by 5.5% against 1.4% nationally. In doing so, added 19,600 self-employed residents locally to stand at 378,000.
The difference between full-time and part-time resident workers in the Business South area and the UK was just as pronounced. Full-time worker levels saw no growth compared to 1.5% nationally. In contrast, part-time worker numbers rose by 4.6% on the year against 0.1% nationally. As such, there were 30,200 more part-time workers locally in 2013 than 2012.
According to the CBI/Accenture Employment Trends Survey (Dec 2013), many businesses see such flexible employment patterns as vital or important to the UK economy.
On the other hand, the TUC would interpret much of this flexibility as insecurity with fears that job insecurity is becoming a permanent feature in the UK labour market (TUC 2014).
The C2C and Dorset LEPs saw strong employee and self-employed growth, against negative employee growth but robust self-employment growth in EM3 and Solent. Self-employment was 15% higher on the year in the Solent LEP or 13,900 more self-employed workers. Strong growth in full-time worker levels was limited to Dorset (3.7%), which exceeded the UK rate, whereas EM3 and Solent both saw negative growth. The C2C, EM3 and Solent LEPs all saw part-time worker growth.
The economically inactive population shrunk on the year by around 21,100 to 0.64 million or just under one in five working age residents (19.4%). This rate remains lower than the UK rate of 22.7%. There were 175,500 residents in the Business South area who are economically inactive, but who would like a job,4,000 fewer on the year but proportionately higher than UK.
Self-employed and part-time trends more ‘flexible’ than the UK
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4: Jobseekers(JSA)
1.41.2
2.7 2.82.4
2.62.4
1.7
2.42.1
3.84.0
3.74.1
3.9
2.9
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
Mar2007
Mar2008
Mar2009
Mar2010
Mar2011
Mar2012
Mar2013
Mar2014
Jobseeker (JSA) Claimant Rate
Business South area UK
2.52.1
4.5 4.43.7
4.23.4
2.2
4.13.6
6.4 6.55.9
6.7
5.7
4.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
Mar2007
Mar2008
Mar2009
Mar2010
Mar2011
Mar2012
Mar2013
Mar2014
Young People Jobseekers ( JSA) Claimant Rate
Business South area UK
1.5 weeks
less
4.6 weeksless
In 2008 In 2014
Gap between the Business South area and the UK in median duration spent on JSA
In the Business South area the narrower but more up to date Jobseeker Allowance claimant count rate fell for the second consecutive year to 1.7% and by 1.2 percentage points below the UK rate of 2.9%.
The number of JSA claimants for March 2014 was around 56,000. This represents close to 25,000 fewer claimants on the year and just over 37,000 fewer on March 2010. JSA Rates and numbers fell for both sexes, although at a faster rate for male claimants. Male claimants numbered approximately 36,100 (down 16,000) compared to 20,100 female claimants (down 8,200).
Young people rates continue to fall but remains above pre-crisis rates (March 2008). The Business South area rate of 2.2% is 1.8 percentage points lower than the national average and also narrower than a year ago (2.3 ppts). The number of young people on JSA in the Business South area for March 2014 was around 13,000.This is approximately 7,500 fewer claimants on the year, but some 12,900 fewer than in March 2009 during the recession.
Rates and numbers have fallen for both sexes, although young male claimant numbers declined over the year at a faster rate than females. Young male claimants numbered approximately 8,400 (down by 5,300) compared to 4,600 female claimants (down by 2,270).
The number of median weeks that claimants spent on JSA levelled off after year on year increases. As at March 2014 claimants in the Business South area will spend on average 18 weeks on JSA , just over four and a half weeks less time spent on JSA than the national average (22 weeks).
Across the LEPs (p17), claimant numbers fell, although only the Solent LEP saw a drop in rates. All LEPs have a lower claimant rate than the UK. Of the 43 local authorities in the Business South area eight have rates above the UK average: Brighton & Hove (3.1%), Weymouth & Portland (3.1%), Bournemouth (3.2%), Havant (3.4%), Southampton (3.5%), Portsmouth (3.8%), Croydon (4.1%), and Isle of Wight (4.7%) - (p21).
Unemployed claimant numbers and rates continue their downward trend
Source for charts and graphic: ONS Monthly Claimant Count.
The ONS headline measure of UK house prices, based on a survey of mortgage lenders, rose by 9.1% in the year to February 2014, up from 6.8% in the year to January 2014.This increase was driven by rises in London (17.7%), the South East (8.0%) and the East of England (7.7%).
A similar trend is reflected in the Business South area, but using Land Registry Prices Data which captures most residential transactions (sales). For the three months to March 2014 house prices being paid rose, with the rate of prices paid in the Business South area up on the year by 5.4%, and sales by 5.8%. On both measures this outpaced the national average of 3.6% (prices) and 1.6% (sales). All of this means the median house price paid in the Business South area for the three months to March 2014 was £245,000, making the average property 32% more expensive than the national average (£185,000).
Looking at the profile of sales by property type for the first three months of 2014, detached properties were more prevalent in the Business South area with 28% of sales and semis the least at 21%. The sale of flats were also high in the Business South area and much more so than across England and Wales as whole. The national profile saw semis and terraced housing accounting for more sales in three months to March 2014.
In terms of the affordability of recent sales only flats at £169,000 were lower on average in the Business South area than nationally. The prices paid for detached, semis or terraced property were over a third higher than the national average prices.
All four LEPs recorded a percentage rise in both the prices paid and sales transacted over the three months to March 2014. Lower numbers of transactions can introduce volatility and figures taken as indicative in magnitude and direction (p18). The rise in prices paid between January and March 2014 ranged from 2.0% higher in the Coast to Capital LEP (C2C) to 5.7% higher in the Enterprise M3 LEP (EM3). The contrast in sales transacted over the period compared to a year ago was more pronounced. The EM3 LEP saw a marginal increase of 1.8% compared to 13.8% more sales recorded on the year in Dorset LEP, although Dorset records far fewer transaction against other LEPs. The highest median overall average house price paid was in the EM3 at £280, and 52% higher than the national average. The lowest was £200k in Solent and just 8% higher than the national average. At local authority district level higher median prices paid over the three months still favours locations closer to London, although most saw prices paid rise on the year (p22).
Prices paid in early 2014 suggests the local pace is faster than the national average
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Page 10
6. Focus On…Eight Key Sectors for Business South
Sources: ONS BRES 2011-2012 and ONS UK Business Count 2011-2012. Key sectors have been defined to avoid possible overlaps in order to allow aggregation, but may differ to LEP definitions, particularly the marine sector.
626,500
Number of Key Sector Employees
28%
Percentage of all
Employees
85,450
Number of Key Sector Businesses
35%
Percentage of all
Businesses
Business South area
Knowledge Intensive Activities present across all eight key sectors and beyondare seen as vital to higher productivity and higher value added output.
Key Sectors Feed into Knowledge Intensive Activities
Employees Businesses
Sources: ONS BRES 2012 and ONS UK Business Count 2012. A value of 1.00 means the concentration of employees or businesses locally is the same as the Great Britain. Higher values such as 1.50 would suggest a 50%greater concentration locally compared to Great Britain. Bubble size based on employee numbers.
2.25 million: Total workplace employees in the Business South area in 2012, a rise of 21,000 on 2011 levels.
243,000: Total businesses in the 2012, 5,800 more than in 2011.
183,200: Number of employees in Finance and Business Services; largest of the key sector employers.
34,020: Number of businesses in Financial & Business Services, the key sector with the most businesses.
50%and greater local sector concentration compared to Great Britain in the Marine and Aerospace and Defence key sectors. ICT & Digital Media is also strong at 25% greater concentration than Great Britain.
Local Enterprise Partnership Key Sectors
Key Sector Concentrations in the Business South Area Key Statistics
The eight key sectors reflect industries identified across the four LEPs as being of strategic importance to the local economy, whether in terms of employment, output, future potential or all three. For the purposes of this report the sector definitions have been narrowed to avoid overlapping and so allow the aggregation of sectors across the four LEPs to provide a Business South figure. Key sector figures shown in the graphics on Page 12 may differ from broader sector definitions used by each of the LEPs, in particular the Marine sector in Dorset and Solent which also cuts across other sectors.
In addition to the eight sectors are Knowledge Intensive Activities (KIA) that includes elements from the eight key sectors and other sectors beyond. KIA was highest in the Enterprise M3 LEP (46%) and lowest in the Dorset LEP at 39%, which was below the Business South area (44%) and Great Britain (43%) averages.
The Coast to Capital LEP has the most employees and businesses in the Business South area. Overall employee numbers and the number of businesses rose on the year. ICT and Digital media, Advanced Engineering, Energy and Environment and Pharmaceuticals are key sectors that when combined employ 1 in 10 workers in the LEP.
The Dorset LEP has the fewest employees and businesses in the Business South area. Overall employee numbers and the number of businesses rose on the year. Financial and Business Services, Advanced Engineering, ICT and Digital Media and Marine are key sectors that combined employ 1 in 6 workers in the LEP. The Marine sector is likely to be larger as sub-sectors in other industries are sometimes grouped to create a broader definition of the marine sector.
Unlike C2C and Dorset, the Enterprise M3 and Solent LEPs partially overlap so there is a degree of double counting when comparing the two. However, overall employee numbers and the number of businesses rose on the year in the EM3 area. Financial and Business Services, ICT and Digital Media, Aerospace and Defence and Pharmaceuticals are key sectors that combined employ close to 1 in 5 workers in the LEP.
Overall employee numbers and the number of businesses rose on the year in Solent LEP (which partially overlaps with EM3). Logistics, Advanced Engineering, Aerospace and Defence and Marine are key sectors that combined employ close to 1 in 7 workers in the LEP. The Marine figure will be higher using Solent’s marine and maritime sector definition. A recent study by the LEP attributed 5% of private sector jobs in the area to the marine and maritime sector*.
Median House Price (£) 200,000 ~ ~ 190,000 +10,000 Number of Transactions 4,603 ~ ~ 4,313 +290
The EM3 and Solent LEP’s data has a degree of overlap and the double counting of four local authority districts – see Notes. This needs to be taken into account when comparing these two particular LEPs.
Source for Maps and Table: ONS Annual Population Survey. Rate Change on Year percentage point change. Working Age (16-64yrs). Districts ordered by LEPs north to south and west to east.
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Current Unemployment Rates 12 months to December 2013
Unemployment Rates Percentage Point Change on Previous Year (December 2012-December 2013)
Current Unemployment Number and Rate and Change on Year (December 2012-December 2013)
Source for Maps and Table: ONS Modelled District Unemployment. Working Age 16-64yrs Districts ordered by LEPs north to south and west to east.
Note: The Business South, LEPs and UK rates of unemployment come form the Annual Population Survey (APS), whereas the district level data are modelled from the APS using JSA data to improve the reliability of the statistics.
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Jobseekers (JSA)
Jobseekers Allowance Claimant Rate March 2014
Jobseekers Allowance Claimant Number Change –March 2013-March 2014
Jobseekers (JSA) Number and Rate March 2014 and Change on March 2013
Source for Maps and Table: ONS Monthly Claimant Count. Working Age (16-64yrs).Districts are ordered by LEPs running north to south and from west to east.
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Young People Jobseekers Allowance Claimant Rate March 2014
Young People Jobseekers Allowance Claimant Number Change – March 2013 & March 2014
Young People JSA Number and Rate March 2014 and Change on March 2013
Administrative Boundaries and Major Transport Infrastructure
Local Enterprise Partnerships and Local Authority Districts
Business South Transport Infrastructure
All LEP data are based on whole district definitions. In the case of the Enterprise M3 and Solent LEPs this means the local authority districts of East Hampshire, New Forest, Test Valley and Winchester are included in the statistics for both. Coast to Capital LEP also has two local authorities that overlap with other LEPs; Lewes with the South East LEP and Epsom and Ewell that also has membership with the London LEP.
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Notes Economy
• National Sources for GDP and CPI inflation come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Business Confidence from ICAEW / Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM), and Consumer Confidence from the GfK UK Consumer Confidence Index
• The English Business Survey provides timely, robust and geographically detailed intelligence on business and economic conditions in England.
• The data have two datasets for each variable. One that perceives the current performance of their business compared to a specific month and to three months before; and how they expect the current performance of their business will compare to a specific month and to three month’s into the future. The two variables used in the report are Business Activity (volume of output) and Costs (wage and labour costs).
Labour
• International Labour organisation (ILO) defined employment comes from the Annual Population Survey, rather than the preferred Labour Force Survey (LFS) as data from the LFS are not available below the regions.
• Modelled Unemployment data for districts also comes primarily from the Annual Population Survey, but factors in the Jobseeker Allowance data to improve the survey estimate. All rates and numbers based on those aged 16-64yrs or 16-24yrs for Young People.
JSA (Jobseekers)
• The Jobseekers Allowance comes from the monthly ONS count of claimants.
• At local authority level the data are not seasonally adjusted to compensate for fluctuations in seasonal demand. For like-for-like comparison the same period for the previous year gives the most reliable indication of unemployment trends.
• All rates and numbers based on those aged 16-64yrs or 16-24yrs for Young People.
Housing
• All housing data comes from the Land Registry database on Prices Paid and Transactions (sales). The raw data are not seasonally adjusted to compensate for fluctuations in seasonal demand or inflation.
• Like-for-like comparisons use the same period for the previous year, although care must be taken in comparing average prices with other house price statistics such as those published by the Nationwide and Halifax Building Societies.
• The Price Paid Data excludes property transactions that have not been lodged at Land Registry and all property transactions that involve: a corporate body, company, or business. It also excludes any residential property sales that may not have been for full market value, for example: sale of part of the property or a share of a property sale of a property at a discount, including right to buy properties sale of repossessed properties sale subject to an existing mortgage transfers following divorce or by way of gift
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or exchange transfers under Compulsory Purchase Order or by Court Order transfer of more than one property as part of a portfolio leases for 7 years or less.
• Employee estimates come from the Office for national Statistics (ONS) Business Register and Employers Survey.
• The data are published in September, with 2013 BRES due later this year.
• The number of businesses comes from the ONS UK Business Counts, an annual snap-shot of VAT/PAYE registered businesses. For this report local units (branches, parts of a business) are used rather than Enterprises which would give a lower number. Although 2013 data was available, the 2012 data was analysed to give the same year as BRES.