Figures look good for city's economy despite recession

Published on Monday 10 May 2010 10:04

EDINBURGH'S economy is bouncing back from the recession, with a series of figures showing more hotel guests, passengers at the airport, foreign investment, and new businesses starting up.

The new data for the 2009-10 financial year is a welcome boost and comes as it also emerged more lucrative conferences have been secured for the city.

While unemployment has increased, it is growing at a much slower rate than a year ago, and the decline in the number of new planning applications has also slowed.

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Ron Hewitt, chief executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "Overall, our ship has stabilised.

"There are a number of 'sunrise' industries, such as the life science sector and renewable energy, and that is helping the economy. And if anyone thinks financial services is dead they need to look further than banking, which is also now in recovery, and look at the many other parts of the city's economy – like insurance and fund management – which are as vibrant as ever.

"But there is still a long way back. We welcome signs of improvement but with the caution that there are still difficulties to be overcome, especially on the public sector side."

Hotel room occupancy increased by 1.5 per cent in 2009-10, according to the city council figures, to 75.9 per cent. In another sign of the strength of the tourism sector, the number of passengers using Edinburgh Airport increased by 1.6 per cent, to nine million.

Sinead Feltoe, regional director of VisitScotland, said: "Despite the harsh economic conditions last year, Edinburgh and the Lothians continued to perform well in terms of tourism."

Edinburgh Airport was the only one of the UK's ten busiest airports to record growth over 2009-10, and is now the sixth busiest in the country.

A spokesman said: "We need a successful Edinburgh to have a successful airport and Edinburgh also needs the airport to be successful; the two are intrinsically linked."

There were 24 foreign investments in the city last year, compared with 13 a year earlier, while 830 new businesses were set up – a 5.3 per cent increase.

Over the year, 257 major conferences and exhibitions were secured for Edinburgh, up on 200 in 2008-9. The Edinburgh Convention Bureau said it was currently lining up 100 more events, worth 66m. Chief executive Sue Stuart said: "We have had a very good start to our new business year."

Some economic indicators have not done so well. Unemployment is up 56 per cent on a year earlier, although there are signs that the rate of growth has slowed in recent months.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING WORKS ON RISE

THE number of affordable homes being built in the Capital has reached a five-year high, new figures have revealed.

In the 2009-10 financial year, 788 new homes were completed in the Capital. The figure is nearly double the number built a year earlier.

It is in sharp contrast to the private housing sector, where all development has slowed markedly.

There are 1,144 new affordable homes under construction, meaning this year could be another record year for completions.