Focus on Surrey: High achievers
Surrey is the second biggest contributor to the UK economy after London. Here we take a look at how high-value businesses and innovative R&D underpin a county-wide plan for sustainable growth.
by Nick Warburton
Well connected to London and the Southeast, and also internationally through its close proximity to London Gatwick and London Heathrow, Surrey is home to a wealth of world-leading academic and corporate research and development (R&D) as well as high-performing UK and international businesses, generating more than £43 billion annually.
Even so, the Covid-19 pandemic has massively disrupted the local economy over the past 18 months and focused minds on how to best grow and sustain Surrey’s economic ambitions over the next decade.
In November 2020, Surrey County Council published its Economic Strategy Statement: Surrey’s Economic Future, highlighting key priorities to 2030.
Surrey County Council’s Leader Tim Oliver holds the portfolio for economy and growth and illustrates the county’s potential.
“There are unique benefits to investing in Surrey,” he said. “We have unrivalled locational advantages. There is access to an incredibly highly-skilled workforce and strengths in high-value business clusters in sectors like pharmaceutical, automotive and a growing green economy base.”
Although retail, together with health and education, represent nearly 40% of employment, Oliver notes that one of Surrey’s key strengths is the exceptionally high number of knowledge-intensive industries such as professional services, information and communication and financial and insurance. Collectively, jobs across these industries represent more than a fifth of employment.
“Nearly 40% of all Surrey enterprises are in these knowledge-intensive sectors compared to 27% nationally,” he said.
Surrey’s economic statement came about after an independent Future Economy Surrey Commission headed up by former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Philip Hammond recommended a “clear strategy” to promote economic growth.
The commission advised the council to “strike a balance between measures that deliver growth and jobs retention in the short-to-medium term and enhance Surrey’s key strengths and assets in the longer run”.
Single voice for Surrey As the council’s leader, Oliver recognised that to deliver on Surrey’s bold ambitions, the council needed to collaborate with its economic partners, so, in summer 2020, he brought these stakeholders together to create the One Surrey Growth Board to take “ownership” of the strategy.
Surrey Research Park 18
focus on surrey
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