According to the British Chamber of Commerce, the UK economy is set to accelerate during 2015, reaching record-high levels of growth in a variety of industry sectors. The positive economic outlook is particularly beneficial to entrepreneurs and job seekers in the country’s most business-friendly cities, such as Cambridge. A recent report published by the Centre for Cities has listed Cambridgeshire’s capital as one of the top cities for business in the United Kingdom. Here’s an overview of the key elements that make Cambridge a successful model for economic development.
A thriving and diversified economy
For several years, Cambridge has invested in creating a diverse and modern economic base, and the efforts seem to be paying off. The 2015 Centre for Cities report looked at the performance of the city’s economy over the past 10 years, highlighting the key developments that have taken place in Cambridge in areas like business innovation, employment, skills, and business infrastructure. For example, between February and October 2014 alone, more than 3,000 new businesses were registered with the Companies House. All in all, Cambridge is now home to over 27,000 businesses, a figure that demonstrates the impressive growth levels recently experienced in the city.
One of the keys to economic development lies in diversification, and Cambridge’s success exemplifies this to perfection. The city is no longer reliant on the education and tourist industries. Over the past decade, high-value and knowledge-intensive industry sectors have boomed in Cambridge, which is now renowned at international level for being a hub for leading high-tech businesses. The most thriving industry sectors include biotech, information technology, software development, pharmaceutical research, nanotechnology, life sciences, and health care. The energy sector is also booming in Cambridge, along with companies involved in the telecommunications and engineering industries. In fact, the Cambridge Cluster Map has shown that the top 1,500 companies in the city generate annual revenues in excess of £13 billion, and they provide employment to more than 57,000 people.
Infrastructure
The city of Cambridge has invested heavily in developing a network of modern business infrastructure that suits the needs of its thriving community. The Cambridge Science Park has been recently expanded to provide first-class business facilities, and is currently home to cutting-edge research and development centres and to leading firms like Napp Pharmaceuticals, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Grant Thornton, Philips, Toshiba, Oakland Innovation, and Jagex. Other key infrastructure developments include the establishment of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (based at Cambridge University) and the Growth Hub that is set to serve businesses and individuals in Cambridge and beyond. In addition, the British government has agreed to support future infrastructure developments in Cambridge through the City Deal. Through this deal, one billion pounds will be invested in the city between 2015 and 2015.
Business Innovation
The economic climate in Cambridge is highly favourable to startups and to small and medium-sized companies. New entrepreneurs are attracted to the city due to its excellent combination of outstanding infrastructure and reputation for academic leadership. Cambridge University has played a crucial role in this respect, as this institution continues to provide expert support to startups with its range of business incubators and dedicated entrepreneurial learning programmes. Some new and successful business ventures that can attest to Cambridge’s dedication to business innovation include Aqdot, Crowdsurfer, Cambridge Communication Systems, Azuri Technologies, Mission Therapeutics, IntelliSense, and Neul. Another fact that points at Cambridge as a hub for business innovation is the number of patents granted, which is the second highest in the UK and is only surpassed by London.
Jobs and Skills
The Centre for Cities report also revealed that Cambridge has one of the UK’s highest population growth rates. These demographic changes have been driven by an influx of qualified workers from other UK regions and from overseas. The city now boasts a large and diverse skills pool made up by talented and highly educated professionals that bring value to the city’s businesses. Local companies have greatly benefited from the availability of talent and specialised expertise, and as a result, the city’s business stock has been growing by an average 3 per cent every year. In turn, this has helped create more jobs and has positioned Cambridge as one of the UK’s strongest and best performing labour markets. Over the past decade, the city has seen a 16 per cent increase in the number of jobs available, whereas jobs in the private sector grew by a whopping 12.6 per cent between 2004 and 2013.
It is clear that Cambridge’s dynamic business environment has been highly beneficial to employers, residents, and workers alike. More importantly, and according to the Centre for Cities report, the future continues to look bright in terms of local employment levels and business growth in Cambridge.
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Sources:
http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/press-office/press-releases/bcc-economic-forecast-uk-growth.html
http://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/15-01-09-Cities-Outlook-2015.pdf
http://www.camclustermap.com/list/badge/businessweekly
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Record-number-new-companies-Cambridgeshire/story-23662330-detail/story.html
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/01/cambridge-university-internet-tech-startup
http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/news/general/infrastructure/17132-billion-pound-boost-cambridge-infrastructure
http://www.gcgp.co.uk/2014/07/growth-deal-announcement/