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Peterborough’s impressive performance saw it move up from 29th place
in the last Business Barometer results to take top spot in the
latest league table. Swansea closely followed in second place with a
3.78 per cent growth and Huddersfield took third place with a 3.61
per cent increase.
John Holdich, Cabinet Member
responsible for Economic Development at Peterborough City Council,
said: “Peterborough has fast become a thriving city and a regional
centre for commerce, industry, transport and leisure, as well as
rapidly expanding to meet the demand for new houses.
“Over the last year, Peterborough
has experienced strong business growth, attracting both established
companies and new start-ups into the area. As a result new
developers have invested heavily in the area to build a large
expanse of office buildings to meet the increased demand.”
He added: “Peterborough is also
considered a prime location because of its accessible rail links to
London, so coupled with the affordable commercial property and house
prices, the city is now a highly desirable area to work in.”
Another notable increase from this
year’s results was Ilford in Essex, which moved up into fifth place
with 3.55 per cent business growth in comparison to 38th place with
3.43 per cent in the last results. Wolverhampton also achieved an
impressive tenth place with 3.3 per cent increase, despite not
making the top 100 in the last study.
Overall, the UK average business
population growth for the April to September period in 2006 was 2.58
per cent, a decrease of 13 per cent on the October 2005 to March
2006 study that recorded an average 2.96 per cent increase.
Antony Miller, Head of Media
Development, Royal Mail, said: “Royal Mail’s Business Barometer
produces an accurate gauge of actual business growth in the UK,
which allows UK businesses to identify key areas for re-location and
new business start-ups. Since we deliver to every business address
in the UK, Royal Mail can effectively monitor the changing business
environment to collate the required data for this report.
“This information, compiled by data
from Royal Mail’s Business Changes File ®, is considered a valuable
source for identifying emerging business and industry trends in the
UK, and provides an essential analysis on the individual growth for
particular towns and cities. This report also reinforces the
importance of keeping track of business customers as they move
around the country to provide the most up-to-date information for
business sales and leads.”
Carol Undy, National Chairman of the
Federation of Small Businesses, said: “In today’s fast moving
business environment, businesses are constantly looking for new cost
effective areas in which to expand. Many towns and cities such as
Peterborough, Swansea, Huddersfield and Ilford have experienced a
strong increase in business population growth over the last year or
so, as a result of start-ups and other firms re-locating to these
areas. This demand has subsequently led to developers investing
heavily in building expansive business parks and other office
accommodation.”
The Business Barometer research has
been driven by information collected by Royal Mail’s Business
Changes File®, a database product updated monthly that enables
businesses to not only keep track of present customers as they move
location, but also to identify new leads from businesses that have
just started or have just moved. That is a key time when they are
most likely to buy new products and services.
January 2007 |
