Edinburgh on 'amber' alert over recession

Published on Sunday 25 January 2009 20:59

SCOTLAND'S capital could be hit hard by the recession due to its high level of finance and insurance jobs, according to a new report.

Edinburgh has been given an "amber" risk rating in the study by the research group Centre for Cities, along with London and Bristol.

Edinburgh has the third-largest concentration of banking, finance and insurance jobs of any British city. However, the report suggests the city is in a good position to weather the storm due to strong employment rates, a wide range of industries and its highly skilled population.

Belfast, Liverpool, Wigan and Hull were put in the highest "red" risk category.

Reading, Oxford and Cambridge were ranked as "green", or most likely to survive the recession relatively unscathed.

Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities, said: "UK cities will be hit harder than they think by this recession.

"Nearly all say they are well placed to weather the storm, but they can't all be right.

"The recession will hit our cities in different ways – and some will be hit worse than others.

"Cities will lead us out of recession – but they can't just rely on action from Whitehall. Each city needs its own front-line action plan, to keep jobs and retrain workers and more powers over economic development."