A new economic report claims that Cardiff will become home to one of the fastest rates of employment growth in the UK by the end of 2022.
The UK Powerhouse study, which has been produced by Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr), analyses 50 of the largest local economies by employment and GVA* growth.
In the latest report, Cardiff secures a top 10 position for employment growth with the city expected to see an additional 5,200 filled positions by the end of next year.
| Employment Level, Q4 2022 | Growth (YoY) | |
| Oxford | 150,300 | 3.2% |
| Chelmsford | 89,700 | 2.5% |
| Cambridge | 153,800 | 2.5% |
| Inner London | 3,615,500 | 2.3% |
| Leeds | 506,600 | 2.2% |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 130,500 | 2.2% |
| Birmingham | 651,400 | 2.2% |
| Manchester | 518,500 | 2.2% |
| Cardiff | 253,900 | 2.1% |
| Edinburgh | 375,700 | 2.0% |
Employment growth Q4, 2022 (Source: UK Powerhouse)
The survey reveals a change of fortunes for Swansea as its 5.1% year-on-year growth in employment in Q4 2021 is expected to fall to 1.1%, taking it down to 29th place in the report’s league table.
Disappointingly, Swansea comes last out of all the locations in the report for GVA growth with the size of its economy growing by just £100m during 2022. Despite Cardiff’s strong performance for employment level growth, the size of its economy grew only slightly faster than Swansea.
GVA growth the Q4 2022. Top 5 locations compared to Cardiff and Swansea (Source: UK Powerhouse)
Hannah Clipston, partner at Irwin Mitchell, said:
“The UK’s economy has undergone significant change over the last two years and this report highlights that the post pandemic recovery is unlikely to be linear or even uniform.”
Irwin Mitchell’s report also examines to what extent disruption in the economy leads to innovation.
Here the study reveals that the South West and the South East have the largest share of businesses engaged in innovative activity. According to the study, 41% of businesses in the South West are defined as innovative compared to 34% in Wales.
The most popular driver for innovation is improving the quality of good and services. Interestingly, only a quarter of firms in the South East were innovating in response to environmental concerns and a desire to reduce their carbon footprint. The proportion was even lower in London and the South West where the figure was just 20%.
Hannah added:
“Businesses have been incredibly resilient over the last couple of years and have faced many disruptors including Covid, labour shortages, supply chain issues and high fuel costs.
“Our latest study recommends that irrespective of the sector they’re in, organisations should be adopting technology more quickly and adapting to the UK’s new status after Brexit.
“All of this will require a shift in approach and for innovation to be celebrated and nurtured more than it is currently. It’s vital that businesses are encouraged to follow this path and receive the right level of support in order to help them succeed.”
