This area covers the corner of England from the Midlands up to the Scottish border, neighbouring North West England. It has 8 million people, with Leeds easily the largest centre of economic activity. This region is in a transition from traditional heavy industry industries to more diversified business areas, but it still has a strong manufacturing presence. However, the region has the lowest levels of output per hour in the UK – about 17% below the UK average.
The Yorkshire, Humber and the North East Productivity Forum is led by the University of Sheffield. It is involved in the implementation of research insights, the design of practical business and policy interventions, and in providing input to the development of the Institute’s future research agenda.
Members include stakeholders from policy, community and business leaders from local, national and multinational enterprises.
University of Sheffield
British Business Bank
Luminate
Durham Duplex
Sheffield City Region
Leeds University Business School
UbiSoft
The GreenField Organisation
South Yorkshire and District Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Oliver Wight Consulting
Newcastle University
Bank of England’s Agency for Yorkshire & the Humber
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Cognizant
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies
Sheffield City Council
First Intuition
Bruntwood Scitech
Gripple
Tailored Thinking
Durham University Business School
Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research
The relatively strong productivity growth of the North East compared to the UK average is in part due to Sunderland, which is the only area in the North East with a higher productivity level and a greater percentage increase in productivity than the UK as a whole. Investment in the North of England is amongst the lowest in the world’s most advanced economies.
Since 2010, responsibility for local and regional economic development has come to rest primarily with the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), of which six are located in the two regions. Five of the nation’s 10 city-region combined authority institutions are within the North East, Yorkshire and Humber. These follow some of the principles of the London mayoral set-up (though not for the North East Combined Authority) albeit with far fewer powers and resources. Find insights into productivity in Yorkshire, the North East and the Humber below.
