Bristol is "best place to live outside London" - city's economy is ready to grow
BRISTOL is set to lead the way out of recession over the next 12 months, according to a new report from one of the city's leading firms.
The report, which has been put together by property consultants Jones Lang Lasalle, has boldly predicted a prosperous future for Bristol.
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Bristol is set to lead the way out of recession over the next 12 months, according to a new report from one of the city's leading firms.
According to the findings of the report, the city will be second only to London in terms of wealth, jobs and economic growth.
The South West Market Review, entitled The Winning Edge, is predicting stunning growth rates of 11.4 per cent for 2013 – one of the fastest in the UK.
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According to the predictions, there will be a big growth in well paid and highly-skilled jobs in Bristol and the surrounding area, which will be second only to London.
The survey was made public on the same day that Airbus announced it has won Government funding, which will lead to the creation of 200 highly-skilled jobs at its factory in Filton.
Experts at Jones Lang Lasalle have said that recent high profile collapses on the high street should not obscure the real picture in Bristol.
Paul Baker, who specialises in industrial properties at the firm, said: "The large out-of-town sheds are the new shops.
"Retailers are finally coming to terms with the rapid rise in smartphones and tablets. More than 60 per cent of smartphone users in the UK shop online via their mobile.
"The changing retail landscape is having a direct impact on the distribution market. The 'value' retailers are taking space to serve their expanding store network, with Oak Furnitureland and Home Bargains following in the footsteps of food retailers like Co-op, Morrisons and now Asda in taking large distribution centres in Avonmouth.
"The next big thing in retail distribution will be so-called 'dark sheds' – virtual stores designed entirely to serve online orders, rather than picking stock from supermarket stores.
"We have already seen these emerging around London."
Bristol mayor George Ferguson believes Bristol is second only to London in the economic stakes.
He said: "We are in a great position here in Bristol but that does not mean that we can afford to be complacent. We should not be sitting back and doing nothing – part of the role is to go out there and actively market the city to business.
"We are the best placed out of all the major regional cities to see growth but we need to be proactive. The fact that Bristol has an elected mayor, an active Local Enterprise Partnership and an Enterprise Zone puts it in a really strong position.
"Added to that, we have the quality of life and the natural geography, as well as a highly skilled workforce.
"Provided we are not complacent there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about the future."
James Durie, a director at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, has backed the claims that the city is set for growth.
He said: "The structure of Bristol's economy means that the city is much less reliant on the public sector than other regional cities.
"There are also a lot of small businesses which are nimble and in a position to increase the number of people working for them at short notice."
Mr Durie said: "We have a well trained, highly-skilled workforce, which makes the city attractive to the bigger companies. The city has never had a problem when it comes to attracting the top talent.
"Along with that, we have sectors such as aerospace, which tend to take a long-term view. Companies like Rolls-Royce are relatively insulated against recession, because they take a long-term view and tend to plan five to ten years ahead."
Norwegian company MDE Group, which specialises in recruiting staff for oil and gas deep water and greenfield projects around the globe, has recently opened an office in Bristol. The move is to take advantage of the burgeoning green economy.
Managing director Tom Nixon said: "Bristol is an exciting and growing hub for energy-related companies, with some very skilled people in the area."
Energy company GE Oil & Gas has said it will be creating 200 jobs in Bristol by opening an underwater engineering centre at Aztec West.
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by SteveVirgin
Monday, February 04 2013, 2:19PM
“Can I have some of the same drugs these Muppets must be on to predict 11.3% growth for Bristol in 2013? The council cannot set a legal budget. It's Vision 2020 document has just eight words on an internet/broadband strategy - the one are growth might come from. It pays pittance to maintain a presence in tourism barely funding the rent for Destination Bristol. It has an army of well-paid bureaucrats (about as many as the troops that are serving in Afghanistan) - all on juicy pensions, with little chance of them ever being fired, despite the rhetoric. Only the temps, the part-timers and the lowest in the food chain need fear, not the cretins running the council. If we manage to grow at all in 2013 it will be more by luck than chance. The council just had a huge vote of no confidence in May when (depsite it throwing all its resources against an elected Mayor) 45000 people rose up and voted for one, bucking the national trend. This is one of the worst run council's in history. If a local brewery decided to hold a party I would not appoint council people to run it as they'd be incapable. They'd needd four years of planning, countless committtees, strategy documents, health and safety documents and then on the eve of the event they'd say no.”
by vrwrtuy
Monday, February 04 2013, 2:01PM
“Oh Oh - thanks for whoever wrote this. Look out for ANOTHER influx of poles, rumanians, bulgarians and somalians.”
by M_Ribbeck
Monday, February 04 2013, 9:21AM
“Of course London has better public transport and football teams than Bristol but that does not mean it has a better quality of life. And even though we have our well-reported problems with traffic congestion have you tried driving through London recently ?”
by HarveyG
Sunday, February 03 2013, 10:30AM
“This report is done by the same people who are (trying to) sell Finzels Reach...so no ulterior motive there!
We have a massive scheme that no one (in their right mind) is buying...so lets put out lots of false reports.”
by Robert_H
Sunday, February 03 2013, 1:46AM
“Well green_man it looks like you have been receiving a few negative votes but in my opinion you are spot on,perceptive. I saw this article earlier in the day.
If the UK is to grow economically and be able to meet its social obligations through growth and thus taxation it is essential to establish our own manufacturing and other diverse industries.
Too many of our industries have been sold off to foreign interests and their bottom line is the maximisation of profits which includes strategies to pay as little tax as possible. It is not always the case but many are corporate looters. In its extreme form privatisation has functioned as the enemy of the people. I class the sale of Filton Airfield in that category and it could have been host to various aircraft servicing companies who have since taken their business elsewhere. Take a look at the audited accounts of the company it was sold to.
GE Oil & Gas is an American company that specialises in fracking amongst many other diverse operations related to energy extraction. No doubt its choice of Aztec West is an ideal location to set up offices being close to a motorway system that spans all directions North, South, East and West of the UK. Do they plan to frack the Bristol Channel? It is my guess that the name of the game is fracking. Remember that there was originally opposition to fracking in this country but people have since been reassured about safety, however there have been reports of research being funded in a similar way that the tobacco industry used to.
http://tinyurl.com/62xeez4
Also when the article states ''Norwegian company MDE Group, which specialises in recruiting staff for oil and gas deep water and greenfield projects around the globe, has recently opened an office in Bristol. The move is to take advantage of the burgeoning green economy.'' it is curious that MDE Group essentially has its origins in America also.
http://tinyurl.com/d2k9knk
MDE origins(note the logo which is rigorously protected by copyright )
http://tinyurl.com/cvovwy8
So what might we be left with? Land destroyed, profits taken (and maximised,if you know what I mean) and future generations and ourselves suffering ill health through a contaminated water table.
You may not know that BP was forced to carry the can for The Gulf Of Mexico fiasco and if you look for a blog called pyramidcomm. blogspot on the matter it is mentioned that Obama pushed for a law to ensure this outcome
http://tinyurl.com/759v4j5”
by matic_113
Saturday, February 02 2013, 7:31PM
“@ tango - "i bet traffic flows better in london than bristol
they got better football teams than us
better entertainment than us
better public transport than us""
Absolutely - even for greater london the proportion of people using motor vehicles is far lower. We need a fast efficient x-bristol metro. The amount of time lost to workers due to traffic is shocking costing us £100m per year”
by green_man
Saturday, February 02 2013, 1:54PM
“What we need is economic growth that does not result in: waste; resource squandering; pollution; more money for a few before health and wellbeing and a fair share for all; weakening community; people and environments in this generation and those to come, the world over, not getting a fair deal.
The truth is that growth is not equivalent to prosperity. Prosperity is what we need and its a broader idea, encompassing general flourishing, thriving, general wellbeing, happiness and health as well as the economy. http://tinyurl.com/be89zfw”
by green_man
Saturday, February 02 2013, 1:53PM
“What we need is economic growth that does not result in: waste; resource squandering; pollution; more money for a few before health and wellbeing and a fair share for all; weakening community; people and environments in this generation and those to come, the world over, not getting a fair deal.
The truth is that growth is not equivalent to prosperity. Prosperity is what we need and its a broader idea, encompassing general flourishing, thriving, general wellbeing, happiness and health as well as the economy. http://tinyurl.com/be89zfw”
by goudou
Saturday, February 02 2013, 1:46PM
“Bristol is "best place to live outside London" - you're pulling me leg, right?”
by tango
Saturday, February 02 2013, 12:02PM
“i bet traffic flows better in london than bristol
they got better football teams than us
better entertainment than us
better public transport than us”