Yesterday's post based on the Centre for Cities report has provoked an angry reaction from Sunderland. The local council leader has been in touch to says he takes exception to the report and has been contacted by several large and international companies that, he says, would feel the same way. Here's what he has to say about Centre for Cities: 
Councillor Paul Watson is the leader of Sunderland City Council
"Centre for Cities has been producing its annual Outlook report for several years now and some of its statistics continue to put Sunderland towards the bottom of the pack.
That's not how it looks from here and there's little or no recognition of how things are actually going in the city.
During 2010 and 2011, two of the toughest years this country has faced for decades, we attracted significant new investment, cemented our reputation as the UK's automotive centre, were awarded an enterprise zone and secured funding to build the New Wear Crossing.
To be frank, we are not interested in being compared with London - we are more interested in ensuring we continue to secure the economic development necessary for the city to continue its growth.
In a report published jointly in October 2011 by Centre for Cities, Sunderland City Council and PWC Hidden potential: Supporting growth in Sunderland and similar cities, Centre for Cities concluded: "The strong growth of the private sectors of some of England's 'mid-tier' cities demonstrates the economic potential that they have".
This latest report reflects a moment in time and does not represent the considerable progress made across Sunderland in recent years.
We are continuing to help create new jobs, improve educational achievement, increase what are already record levels of investment and work towards further improvements."
For background info:
1) The published business demographics figures are based on VAT registrations and national insurance payments. These can underestimate the number of small start ups that haven't yet grown sufficiently to pass various turnover and tax thresholds.
2) Sunderland's economy is very international (over 60 foreign investors operate from here). However, the Sunderland operation is often part of a wider UK presence which may well be registered for VAT elsewhere, thereby resulting in a further underestimate of business stock.
3) Sunderland is also where several of the largest companies in the region are located (e.g. Nissan and its suppliers, Arriva, Barclays, Nike, Rolls Royce, BAe to name but a few). So although the numbers of businesses per head of population may not be high, the importance of those businesses to Sunderland and to the region is undeniable.
4) Data published by Banksearch Ltd which records the number of business bank accounts being set up each month shows a rather different picture. This measure captures the smaller start ups that the Government data tend to miss. According to Banksearch, between January and November 2011, there were 1,547 new business bank accounts set up in Sunderland. Although this was down on the peak of 1,667 in 2010, it was still 11% up on the 2009 figure.
| Tweet |
|
Leave a comment
What a user pic? Get a Gravatar!