Gap between best and worst-performing cities widens

A new report from a leading think tank shows that the gap between Britain’s best and worst-performing cities has dramatically widened since 2004.

Centre for Cities found that for every 12 net new jobs created between 2004 and 2013 in cities in the South of England, only one was created in cities throughout the rest of the UK.

The report, which is based on the economic performance of the UK’s 64 largest cities, shows that national growth between 2004 and 2013 was largely driven by only a handful of cities which have seen their populations boom, their number of businesses grow, and thousands of new jobs created.

At the same time in other cities, migration of young and skilled workers, a lack of business growth and falling employment opportunities have led their economies to contract.

Key findings between 2004 and 2013 are as follows:

London’s number of jobs increased by 17.1%, while falls of over 10% were seen in Blackpool, Rochdale and Gloucester.

Milton Keynes’ population grew by 16.5%, while in Sunderland it contracted by 1.4%.

Swindon’s number of net additional businesses climbed 29%, while Grimsby lost 5.5% of its business base.