Ipswich Economic Area Sector Needs Assessment Final Report Ipswich Borough Council, Babergh District Council, Mid Suffolk District Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council September 2017 © 2017 Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Ltd, trading as Lichfields. All Rights Reserved. Registered in England, no. 2778116. 14 Regent’s Wharf, All Saints Street, London N1 9RL Formatted for double sided printing. Plans based upon Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright reserved. Licence number AL50684A OurRef 13615682v8 Ipswich Economic Area Sector Needs Assessment : Final Report Executive Summary Lichfields has prepared this Sector Needs Assessment (SNA) on behalf of Ipswich, Babergh, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal councils. The purpose of the SNA is to provide a ‘business as usual’ assessment of the current and future growth potential of key sectors of the economy to help inform planning policy approaches to accommodating future economic growth and business needs across the Ipswich Economic Area (IEA). Forecasts of employment growth for each sector have been sourced from the 2016 East of England Forecasting Model (EEFM) for the period 2014-2036. These forecasts represent a ‘business as usual’ trajectory of growth based on recent economic trends within the study area and provide a starting point view of how the IEA’s economy may change over the coming years. Job growth that is higher than indicated by the EEFM could be brought about by policy or development interventions, and this is explored through consultation with a range of stakeholders including commercial agents, industry representatives and business organisations. Existing information and data sources relevant to each sector are also integrated within the analysis. The key findings are as follows: 1 Between 2001 and 2016, the population of the IEA grew by nearly 12%. Nearly a third of the population growth (some 30% of the IEA total) occurred within Ipswich. Over this period, employment in the IEA saw steady growth of 7.9%. This growth was unevenly distributed across the four IEA authorities, with Suffolk Coastal seeing employment growth of 13.4%, while Mid Suffolk saw much more modest growth of 1.6%. All four authorities have shown strongest growth from 2013 onwards. 2 The 2016 EEFM indicates an increase in the total number of jobs in the IEA of 37,070 over the 22 years to 2036, driven by Ipswich and followed by Suffolk Coastal, Mid Suffolk and Babergh. About 8,140 of these jobs are expected to fall within ‘B use class’ sectors (i.e. offices, industry and warehousing), again with Ipswich anticipated to drive this growth. Across all authorities, office based jobs are expected to record the most significant growth, and to a much lesser extent, distribution based jobs. Manufacturing based jobs are forecast to decline across each authority area over the period to 2036. 3 When translated into spatial requirements, the 2016 EEFM forecasts imply a lower overall scale of employment land requirements across the IEA when compared with earlier 2014 EEFM data used in the 2016 Ipswich and Waveney Employment Land Needs Assessment (ELNA). This position is echoed across each individual local authority area with the exception of Ipswich where there is a projected increase in requirements. 4 In terms of key economic sectors, the main growth trends are summarised below with further detail set out in the body of the report: a Agriculture – employment is forecast to decline in this sector by 2,300 jobs (-38%), but growth opportunities exist through the promotion of agri-tech which is also supported by the New Anglia LEP. This presents opportunities particularly for Babergh, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal. In overall terms, the analysis suggests that the IEA has some real strengths in agriculture related sectors and emerging USPs and competitive advantage within food and drink and agri-tech sub sectors in particular, and this provides a key area of opportunity for growth over the coming years. Whilst employment in agriculture has increased across the IEA over recent years, the latest EEFM forecasts imply a reversal of this trend going forward. As with other sectors, the IEA will need to adapt to the gradual replacement of more traditional agricultural related activity with higher value, higher tech activity which builds upon the area’s existing strengths. This is likely to place an increasing emphasis upon provision of high quality business accommodation within those key areas of market demand across rural areas of Babergh, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal and within existing, specialist clusters such as Innovation Martlesham. Ipswich Economic Area Sector Needs Assessment : Final Report b Business and professional services – forecast growth of 12,400 jobs (+31%), with the majority of associated demand for office space focused within Ipswich town centre and at Martlesham Heath/Adastral Park. Ipswich has a particular strength in financial and insurance services, whilst there are also developing specialisms in creative and digital sectors. New office developments will be required in accessible locations within and close to Ipswich, for example the Princes Street Enterprise Zone, as well as potential smaller-scale growth in the A12 and A14 corridors, Felixstowe and Sudbury. The nature of business and professional services means that the pattern of activity is inevitably dispersed widely across the IEA with many sub sectors and activities lending themselves to flexible and remote working practices (such as homeworking). Whilst larger firms will always seek to concentrate within key commercial centres to benefit from existing networks, the focus of provision of accommodation for business and professional services activity going forward will also need to be placed upon good quality, modern space within a range of out of town and semi-rural locations that benefit from strong connectivity and also proximity to key settlements across the IEA. For some sectors, there will also be a reducing requirement for large scale, large floorplate premises and a preference for flexible premises that provide opportunities for ‘agile’ working practices and arrangements. c Computing and technology – forecast growth of 680 jobs (+12.2%) with businesses mainly clustered around Ipswich, Martlesham Heath/Adastral Park and Woodbridge. This sector is supported by the New Anglia LEP with planned investment in the form of new broadband infrastructure and the government-backed Technology Innovation Centres (TICs) which will support growth opportunities. The Tech Nation 2017 report notes that the Ipswich area is one of the UK’s key locations for computing and technology and alongside Martlesham Heath/Adastral Park, will be particularly important for the continued growth of this sector. Whilst the overall trend across the IEA over recent years has been one of job decline within computing and technology, the analysis suggests that the inherent USPs of the area as a place to start and grow a computing and technology related business (not least the presence of Adastral Park) could be sufficient to encourage and sustain a much higher level of economic growth over the study period to 2036 than implied by the latest baseline EEFM forecasts. Notwithstanding the centre of excellence and cluster of activity accommodated at BT’s global research and development HQ, sector growth strategies going forward should consider how other parts of the IEA can benefit from Adastral Park’s success and profile, and what type of infrastructure and business premises are needed to encourage computing and technology related growth within other complementary locations such as Ipswich town centre and Woodbridge. Provision of high quality superfast broadband will be key, as will availability of high specification office space and a supporting network of funding opportunities, skills provision and a talented workforce pipeline. d Construction – this is forecast to be the fastest-growing sector to 2036, with growth of 7,400 jobs (+48%). This sector is distributed fairly evenly across the four local authorities and the projected growth reflects this. Firms are clustered in Ipswich, along the A12 and A14 corridors, as well as in Felixstowe and Sudbury. Feedback indicates some consolidation in the sector, particularly to a smaller number of larger offices which could increase demand for this type of premises. The development of Sizewell C would present a significant opportunity for the sector locally, although this could impact the supply of workers for other development projects. At a macro level, the construction sector is expected to record significant levels of employment growth over the coming years and this position is echoed across the IEA. The key transport corridors represent prime areas of market demand, while smaller District settlements also represent popular locations for more localised construction based firms and this should be reflected and supported within forthcoming planning policy relating to employment land provision. Ipswich Economic Area Sector Needs Assessment : Final Report e Education – forecast growth of 1,500 jobs (+9%) which mainly reflects growth of population increasing demand for education services, particularly in Ipswich. Early years, primary and secondary education facilities are planned through their own organisation plans, but wider opportunities could arise from the expansion of the University of Suffolk and Innovation Martlesham (amongst others). Elsewhere, planned development