01 August 2016

This is the first ever report into the sector by Coast to Capital and uses a mix of available data and a small survey of local low carbon businesses to explore the strengths of the local sector, the key drivers and barriers to growth, and the skills needs of employers in the sector.

Although the sector, in terms of its size and contribution to the economy, is considerably smaller in comparison to the finance and business services, and creative, digital and IT sectors, it still account for 1.8% of businesses, 3.1% of employees and produces the 10th highest sales out of the 39 LEPS in England.*

 

Jamie Watson, Coast to Capital's Economic Research Analyst, who produced the report, said: "The sector is expected to grow in the future as the move towards a low carbon economy continues, however there are a number of opportunities and challenges for the sector to deal with that will determine the level of growth and success that occurs in our region.

 

"The gap in strategic management skills has been identified as one of the key challenges for this sector, and this is a particular problem for SMEs as they have less resource to develop them. We are seeing however that the sector is taking a number of approaches in response to the training needs and skills shortages of employees which is encouraging, but more still needs to be done."

New reports reveals that the Low Carbon Sector generates £3bn turnover to the local economy

The government has been identified as both the top driver and barrier to growth in the sector. Its support via policy and subsidies helps drive increasing adoption of the sector, however its inconsistent approach to policy and sudden removal of subsidies tends to make it hard for businesses to confidently invest in the sector and plan future employment needs.

 

Jamie added: "Government needs to be more consistent in its policy and there needs to be better long-term planning for the sector to provide confidence to businesses, which will boost the economic potential of the sector."

 

The report highlights the supportive business environment in the local area for low carbon businesses to operate in. The Green Growth Platform and the Sustainable Business Partnership offer support and networking expertise aimed at the sector and our universities have a number of research centres working in key themes around the low carbon and environmental technologies and issues.

 

Read the full report here.

*Figures relate to data sources from 2011/12

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