HSBC


Could area become a post-pandemic employment hotspot?


Recovery from COVID-19 has been a hot topic in business for months. The pandemic caused sustained, signifi cant damage to regional economies across the country. But with the vaccination programme having an impact, and restrictions fi nally receding, the business community is now focusing on a ‘no regrets’ recovery characterised by agility and adaptability. According to research by Centre for Cities, which


was commissioned by HSBC UK to understand how local business communities would respond, the pandemic caused unemployment to increase by 1.3m people up to the end of last year. In Milton Keynes, the picture is no different, with unemployment rates rising for young people and signs of economic hardship in the surrounding areas.


And yet, within this context the country is


aiming to ‘level up’ and ‘build back better’, creating new types of employment and reinvigorating the economy in a post-Brexit era. To put this into a national context, Centre for


Cities estimates the UK economy will need to create an estimated 9.4m jobs just to get 1.3m people back


Frances Howell Managing Director & Head of


Corporate Banking Midlands Region HSBC UK


into work. T is is partially explained by the fact that positions are lost every day in the economy to change, technology, redundancy and failure, meaning a net increase in jobs has to overcome what is being lost in the future, as well as the jobs that have gone in the recent past. Our research also showed that new businesses are most likely to deliver these jobs. New businesses created more than 3.7m more jobs than they lost between 2013 and 2019, while private sector existing businesses lost just short of a million more than they created. So, we must look to innovation, start-ups and off -shoots for employment prospects – not just the same corporate heavyweights we might have previously relied upon. Milton Keynes was one of only 16 locations around the UK to


have experienced extremely strong employment growth in the pre- pandemic era. Between 2013 to 2019, Milton Keynes’ private sector net job creation grew by 23% - that’s an absolute increase of 27,000 jobs. T is means it is not unreasonable to expect Milton Keynes to be one of the fi rst towns to experience positive employment growth in the coming years.


But how will employment growth happen? T e Centre for Cities


report highlights three things. Firstly, supporting high street businesses and the hospitality sector will continue to be vital – it’s a big part of the Prime Minister’s plans to level up the country; secondly, supporting labour intensive industries, particularly where they contribute to other government ambitions, such as home insulation, will help to encourage people back to work; and thirdly, increasing skills to make it easier for people to move between jobs and industries. T e blueprint doesn’t stop there. We all need to become more


productive, which is best achieved through research and development initiatives, encouraging high-skilled jobs back into Milton Keynes, and attracting investment from international companies exporting to the UK.


While this is a theoretical exercise, there is real momentum


behind the Milton Keynes local economy. We see potential turning into reality every day. We speak to businesses all the time who have identifi ed growth opportunities, created new products or opened entirely new businesses. T e success of the regional economy relies on businesspeople pushing forwards with their plans, unafraid of failure in pursuit of success. Only time will tell what a ‘no regrets’ recovery really means for the


businesses of Milton Keynes? But if we continue to innovate, continue to adapt, continue to shape our local communities with new services and better businesses, the evidence suggests Milton Keynes should be leading the way.


Find out more about HSBC at www.hsbc.co.uk 56 ALL THINGS BUSINESS


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