Concrete proof that the Milton Keynes jobs market is working
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Your support makes all the difference.Milton Keynes may be best known for jokes about concrete cows, roundabouts and streets named after letters of the alphabet.
Milton Keynes may be best known for jokes about concrete cows, roundabouts and streets named after letters of the alphabet. But now residents of the Buckinghamshire "new town" are smiling after it was found to have had the highest growth in employment in Britain over the past decade.
A total of 36,100 jobs were created between 1991 and 2001, according to a study of 150 towns and cities by Business Strategies, an economics analysis unit.
This was 8,000 more than its nearest rival and fellow new town, Warrington in Cheshire. The title of the fastest growing town went to Bridgend in south Wales, where the 16,100 new jobs represented a surge of 45 per cent over the 10 years. Milton Keynes grew 35 per cent.
Allan Banks, managing director of Invest in Milton Keynes, which seeks to attract and retain employers in the district, said the town had gained by being a new town – one of the developments ringing London that were built since the war. He said: "Because it is only 30 years old the infrastructure is still in good condition and the support services are good." He added that Milton Keynes had been good at retaining, as well as attracting, companies.
At the other end of the table, Dundee suffered the largest fall in employment, of 26,400 workers, following by Nottingham with a net job loss of 21,900. Business Strategies said the league table highlighted a strong north-south divide. All the bottom 10 towns were in Scotland, the North of England or the Midlands. Eight of the top 10 were in southern England.
The group is now making a detailed study to find out why. Richard Yorke, an associate director, said preliminary research had highlighted factors such as industrial structure, labour force quality, proximity of airports, population density and ethnic mix.
He said: "Prosperous regions produce good school-leavers, which then produce an advantageous qualifications mix and more prosperity in the future. The reverse also applies and this tends to widen the north-south divide."
North-South divide in jobs
Top 10 / New jobs
Milton Keynes 36,100
Warrington 27,700
Northavon 24,100
Salford 22,100
Cardiff 21,800
Banbury 20,800
Bracknell 19,200
Wokingham 17,200
Bridgend 16,100
Brighton 16,100
Bottom 10 / New jobs
Dundee -26,400
Nottingham -21,900
Leicester -21,100
Beverley -19,800
Kilmarnock -13,200
Irvine -13,100
Stoke-on-Trent -11,800
North Shields -10,300
Loughborough -9,700
Doncaster -9,500
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