Coast to Capital welcomes 0.8% growth in UK GDP in third quarter

Ron Crank, Chief Executive of Coast to Capital LEP has welcomed today's news that UK GDP has seen its fastest growth for three years according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

 

Overall, GDP increased by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2013. The data builds on a 0.7% GDP rise in the April-June period and is the best quarterly performance since 2010. The Office for National Statistics said there had been a "fairly strong" performance across all sectors.

On hearing the news, Ron Crank commented: "My team and I, along with our partners, are focused on delivering robust plans to unleash local growth. We are working closely with business, education, government and our local community stakeholders to ensure that our region realises its full potential and benefits from the emerging economic recovery.

"The Coast to Capital region makes an essential contribution to the UK economy as a whole. I am optimistic that we have turned a corner and that the economy is gathering momentum across all sectors. Having spoken to numerous business leaders over the past few months, it is clear that there is growing confidence about the future in the Coast to Capital area."

"Looking forward, I urge local businesses to take advantage of the new programmes we are developing, such as the Regional Growth Fund, which includes funding direct to high growth, innovative green technology companies so that they can take advantage of the upturn, exploit market opportunities and create jobs", he concluded.

According to the ONS, the largest contribution to the output increase came from the services sector, which increased by 0.7%. Output from services is now 0.4% above its pre-crisis peak in the first quarter of 2008. The 2.5% increase in construction contributed 0.15% to the increase in GDP. House-builders have been buoyed by the Government's Help to Buy scheme, which recently launched a new phase offering mortgage guarantees. Production grew by 0.5%, whilst within this, manufacturing improved 0.9% in the third quarter.