Gazetteer: Norwich won't cut mustard in downturn

Published on Monday 24 November 2008 20:50

ILLUMINATING STUDY

ALAN Partridge would not be pleased – his beloved hometown of Norwich is the city outside London most likely to feel the repercussions of the credit crunch, due to its high dependence on the financial services and constructions sectors.

The stark warning comes from accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, which also said that Edinburgh was next in line to feel the pinch.

Steve Coogan's alter ego probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that, in Norwich, 36 per cent of the workforce are employed in the construction and financial services industries.

And together the sectors account for 34.8 per cent of the total number of jobs in Edinburgh, according to the beancounters – about 106,600 posts.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom – apparently Blackpool is the place least likely to be damaged by the credit crunch as it has the lowest percentage of employment in finance and construction in the UK, accounting for only 13.1 per cent of posts.

James Simmonds, partner at UHY Hacker Young, says: "The growth in financial services has largely passed Blackpool by.

"Blackpool has its problems but an overexposure to investment banking is not one of them."

FACT OF THE DAY

584.1bn

ACCORDING to the latest public expenditure figures from HM Treasury, the UK's total managed expenditure in 2007-8 was 584.1 billion, a rise of 800 million on previous estimates published back in July.

Figures released yesterday by the Treasury showed that public expenditure on defence stood at 33.6bn, with 9.2bn being spent on environmental protection, 20.8bn on transport and 12.1bn on "recreation, culture and religion".

KILLER QUOTE

"AT A time when the country is facing a recession, the Scottish Government needs to focus its efforts on supporting businesses. A local income tax would have a direct cost to business and would make Scotland a less attractive place in which to invest"

Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce

GOOD DAY

Teknek

THE Scottish Council for Development & Industry (SCDI) has presented Teknek, the Glasgow-based engineering firm, with an award for "outstanding achievement in exports".

Enterprise minister Jim Mather presented the prize at the SCDI awards.

BAD DAY

Lombard

PAY at Lombard Medical Technologies is to be cut by 20 per cent. The Aim-listed company said staff had given a "very positive response" to the voluntary plan, which would involve deferring payments or cutting working hours. Lombard owns Culzean Medical Devices, in Prestwick.