Wrexham Amongst Fastest Growing Economies In Wales

Wrexham is amongst the ‘fastest growing regions’ in Wales economically in the last three months, new figures have revealed.

In a report released by RBS yesterday, statistics show that in quarter four of 2014 the Welsh Economy grew by 0.4%.

Overall Wrexham was listed among the ‘Top Three’ areas for growth in Wales; with Anglesey taking the top spot (3%), Wrexham and Flintshire listed as second (2.9%) and Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot taking third place (2.9%).

The report goes onto comment on areas in Wales that had considerably slower growth, including Swansea and Newport. However this is put down to: “A lower reliance on some of the faster growing sectors like professional services appear to be the reason why. As a result, these were the only two Welsh regions which saw a rise in the unemployment rate in the year to Q3 2014.”

Across the UK (excluding London) growth was described as ‘slow’ towards the end of 2014 – however RBS go onto state that they ‘estimate that growth over the past year for many regions has been at or above their historical average’.

Nationally the five fastest growing local area economies are believed to be: Inner East London, Milton Keynes, Aberdeen, Cambridge and Herefordshire,

Barry Evans, Regional Director said: “There’s definitely a more upbeat feel in the local economy. Our customers are demonstrating higher levels of confidence, they’re now more open and receptive to embracing the insights and solutions we discuss with them.

“A good example is agriculture which has the potential for income diversification. We’re finding the farming community is now far more receptive to new ideas on broadening income streams such as from green/ renewable energy, than they used to be.

“Consumer demand continues to surprise us; as value for money and available spending power improves in the economy it has a positive knock-on effect for business. Our lending book in Wales and SW England grew significantly for the first time in a number of years in 2014, with healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture all actively investing.

“The looming General Election has created some additional uncertainty around what this might mean for employers and entrepreneurs in terms of changes to regulation, tax and VAT etc. but overall businesses are optimistic about prospects in 2015 and beyond.”

(Thanks to Deeside.com for letting us syndicate their initial article – more info on Flintshire’s economy / news here)