Barclays recently published their latest UK Prosperity Map and named Manchester as one of the strongest performers for entrepreneurial activity with an impressive SME turnover of 15%.
The Barclays UK Prosperity Map provides an in-depth understanding of the different prosperity drivers across the country. The map uses a variety of different resources to display the results. Those measures include GDP, employment, enterprise figures, household expenditure, number of millionaires and donations to charity.
Barclays then create an overall score which ranks different places on the map.
The 2016 report showed an uplift in prosperity across all of the country’s regions in comparison to last year’s study. And, more importantly, this prosperity is now starting to be shared across the country.
England’s North West
When it comes to a closer look at the North West of England, it is the region’s entrepreneurial talent that is challenging places like London.
Barclays accredits the North West “one of the most buoyant small business sectors in the UK”. The area’s small and medium-sized businesses have grown their turnover by 6% over the last 12 months, with which they outpaced every region but Scotland and London.
The main reason for this impressive growth was Manchester with SMEs increasing their turnover by 15%, the second biggest increase in the UK overall.
Furthermore, unemployment fell by 1.8% faster in England’s North West than it did the year before. On top of that, the area’s GDP per capita increased 8.1% (to £19,937), leaving London and the North East behind.
