West of England Quarterly Economic Bulletin January 2021 Introduction

This quarterly bulletin uses a range of indicators to provide an overview of the economic health of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership area. It contains data that we believe forms some of the foundations of productivity for the region.

This January 2021 bulletin displays the most recent available data.

We continue to produce our monthly economic briefings, which can be found on our Regional Insights webpage. This provides a more detailed look at data that reflects the economic impacts of coronavirus.

The Local Enterprise Partnership area covers the West of England Combined Authority (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) area and North Somerset. Economic Output

GVA per hour worked (£) £38.9 billion £35.03 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018 £34.45 +4.2% since 2017 £31.29

£30.44

£34.45 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Productivity (GVA per hour worked) in 2018 Key: West of England UK +2.1% since 2017 Productivity has increased at a similar rate to the UK in recent years. GDP equates to £33,734 per head, which is above the UK overall at £32,216. Although productivity is rising, it is still at a lower rate than it was before 2008. Therefore, Overall GDP growth in the region was the region is also subject to the ‘productivity faster than in the wider UK for 2018. puzzle’.

Please note that figures used are nominal (not adjusted for inflation).

Source: ONS (GDP and Productivity) Climate emergency

In 2018, the region produced 5,154kt of CO2, which is 35% less than in 2005:

▪ This represents 4.5 tonnes of CO2 per person, which compares with 5.2 tonnes per person across the UK.

▪ Note that only CO2 is included because data on other greenhouse gasses (approx. 20% of total UK emissions) are not available. Similarly emissions ‘imported’ with the goods we consume are not included. 1,009 domestic (April 2014 to December 2020) and 179 non-domestic (November 2011 to December 2020) installations have been accredited under the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive programme. 8,474 electric vehicles are licenced in the region (2020 Q3), up from 56 in 2011. This is approximately 1.1% of cars and light goods vehicles in the region.

CO2 emissions (kt), West of England Renewable electricity generation (MWh) 7,948kt West of England 8,000 600,000 30% 5,154kt 500,000 6,000 494,274 Transport 400,000 30% 44% 4,000 300,000 Domestic 200,000 29% 227,526 2,000 39% Industry and 100,000 Commercial 27% 0 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2014 2019

Sources: BEIS (emissions), (renewables), (heat), DfT (vehicles) Innovation: Innovate UK Grants

Value of Innovate UK grants offered over time 103 £120 £3,000

grants awarded in 2019/20 Millions £100 £2,500 Millions

£80 £2,000

£19.6 million £60 £1,500 total value of grants offered in 2019/20 £40 £1,000 Innovate UK is a non-departmental public body. It funds business and £20 £500 research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment £0 £0

into research and development.

2004/05 2003/04 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

West of England (LHS) UK (RHS)

Source: Innovate UK People & Skills: Employment and Claimant Count

Labour Force Survey: Percentage unemployment Working age residents claiming unemployment related benefits 6 rate (%) West of England England England total South West total 5.3

5 7 6.4 4.2 4.2 6 4 5.0 5 2.9 3 4

3 2 2.1

2 1.5 1 1

0 0 Jun 2018- Oct 2018- Feb 2019- Jun 2019- Oct 2019- Feb 2020- Jun 2020- August December April 2019 August December April 2020 August December Aug 2018 Dec 2018 Apr 2019 Aug 2019 Dec 2019 Apr 2020 Aug 2020 2018 2018 2019 2019 2020 2020

Source: ONS, Labour Force Survey, Nomis Labour Market Profile People & Skills: Earnings

Median annual earnings (All workers) West of England LEP England £27,000 £26,662

£26,000 £26,055 £25,000

£24,000

£22,678 £23,000

£22,000 £22,350

£21,000

£20,000 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Source: ONS via NOMIS Infrastructure: Broadband Coverage

Superfast broadband is defined as speeds of 30Mbit/s or more. As of May 2020, the percentage of premises with access to superfast broadband was:

90.7% 90.9% Bath and North East Somerset North Somerset

95.6% 98.2% Bristol South Gloucestershire

94.8% 95.0% West of England United Kingdom

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations Summer 2020 Update Infrastructure: Housing Purchases

Quarterly median house price index £285,000 (September 2015 = 100) median house price in June 2020 130 +2.5% since June 2019 125

Median house prices have risen faster in the West of England than in England as a whole. 120

Median house price 115 (June 2020) 350,000 322,000 110 300,000 275,000 265,000 278,000 250,000 105 200,000 150,000 100 100,000

50,000

Jun 2016 Jun 2017 Jun 2018 Jun 2019 Jun 2020 Jun

Sep 2015 Sep 2016 Sep 2017 Sep 2018 Sep 2019 Sep

Mar Mar 2016 Mar 2017 Mar 2018 Mar 2019 Mar 2020

Dec Dec 2016 Dec 2017 Dec 2018 Dec 2019 0 Dec 2015 B&NES Bristol N.Som S.Glos West of England England

Source: Median house prices HPSSA, ONS Infrastructure: Housing Rentals

£917 Median monthly rental prices WofE, £917 median monthly rental price in 2019/20 £868 £905 £885 +3.7% since 2018/19

£725 England, £675 £695 Rental prices increased from 2018/19 £675 and are considerably higher than the average for England.

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 Median monthly rental prices Total number of rentals £1,000 £995 West of England £875 £750 13,220 11,390 10,460 10,150

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 BANES Bristol South Gloc. North Som.

Source: Private rental market summary statistics, ONS Infrastructure: Housing Affordability

▪ Houses cost between 8.1 and 10.1 times annual average earnings. ▪ Rental cost (all rentals) is between 27.4% and 39.4% of median gross monthly earnings.

Median house prices to median annual earnings Median monthly rent over median monthly earnings

Bath and North East Bath and North East 10.58 39.4% Somerset Somerset

South Gloucestershire 8.72 Bristol 36.6%

Bristol 8.43 South Gloucestershire 32.9%

England 7.74 England 27.4%

North Somerset 7.66 North Somerset 26.0%

Sources: Median house prices HPSSA, ONS, Private rental market summary statistics, ONS, NOMIS (Earnings) Infrastructure: Office Space (Bristol only)

£35.50 £23.50 Bristol city centre rent per square foot Bristol out of town rent per square foot in 2020 Q3 in 2020 Q3

Bristol office quarterly take up (square feet) 350,000

300,000

250,000

200,000 174,589

150,000

100,000 58,833 50,000

- Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 City Centre Out of town

Please note that take-up refers to the amount of gross leasable space added to the market in the period. Bristol Out-of-Town covers the outer areas of Bristol, and may include offices outside of the Bristol Unitary Authority.

Source: GVA The Big Nine Business: Start-Up Businesses

7,270 start-ups in December 2019 to November 2020

This equates to approximately 62.8 start-ups per annum per 10,000 people, over the time period December 2019 to November 2020.

The largest recorded start-up sectors in the West of England were: ▪ Real estate, professional services & support activities (1,943) ▪ Construction (1,154) ▪ Whole & retail trade (1,066) ▪ Transport, storage & communication (840) ▪ Recreational, personal & community services (669)

Source: Banksearch Business: High-Growth Companies

817 Top High-Level Sectors for High-Growth Business ▪ Business and Professional Services (368) active high-growth businesses as of January 2021 ▪ Technology/IP-based businesses (281) +151 businesses since December 2019 ▪ Industrials (223) ▪ Leisure and Entertainment (78) Beauhurst track high-growth businesses ▪ Personal Services (71) according to a range of triggers. The data also identify ‘buzzwords’ associated with high-growth businesses. The most Top Detailed Sectors for High-Growth Business common are: ▪ Artificial Intelligence (21) ▪ Other business and professional services for ▪ FinTech (14) businesses (99) ▪ Digital Security (13) ▪ Software-as-a-service (SaaS) (77) ▪ Internet of Things (12) ▪ Other manufacturing and engineering (73) ▪ EdTech (12) ▪ Marketing services (56) ▪ AdTech (12) ▪ Internet platform (47)

Please note that definition used to identify high-growth companies are detailed online and the sectors are defined by Beauhurst (and not SIC classifications). Source: Beauhurst Business: Business Support

Top business sectors supported 859 ▪ Creative industries businesses interacted with between October 2020 and December 2020 ▪ Professional & financial services ▪ Retail ▪ Business services The West of England Growth Hub supports ▪ Hospitality businesses throughout the area to innovate, grow and thrive. Businesses can access this support via the website Top support type (www.wearegrowth.co.uk) or by contacting the Growth Hub team. ▪ Skills and training The connections we make through the Growth ▪ Strengthening network Hub provide us with information about the ▪ Routes to market issues that concern businesses and the areas they would like support with. ▪ Finance & funding ▪ Branding & marketing

Source: West of England Growth Hub Contact us

westofengland-ca.gov.uk [email protected] WestofEnglandCA West-of-England-Combined-Authority

For further information on support available to businesses, visit the West of England Growth Hub: wearegrowth.co.uk