Burnley Boosted by Official Figures

Jobs growth in the professional, scientific and technical sectors, and in business administration and support services, lies behind a further growth in the number of jobs in Burnley.

The news has been welcomed as confirming the effectiveness of the strategy and partnership working developed by Burnley Bondholders and the local council.

Figures just released from the Office of National Statistics’ Business Register and Employment Survey show that the Lancashire town is sustaining a significant growth rate.

In 2012 and 2013 the total number of employees in Burnley has grown by 200, or 0.6 per cent, to 34 600 in total. That overall figure takes account of reductions in some sectors, and expansion in others.

The long term trend is more significant.

Between 2009 and 2013, the jobs growth rate in Burnley has been 7.1 per cent, well above both the North West average across those four years of 0.6 per cent, and the UK rate of growth of 2 per cent.

Detailed analysis that most private sector employment in Burnley is in manufacturing, with over 15 per cent of Burnley employees working in this sector. This compares very well to the North West figure of 10 per cent, and the figure across of the whole of Great Britain, which is 8.5 per cent.

Mark Crabtree OBE, the Managing Director of the world leading Burnley firm AMS Neve, said the news was ‘very welcome’. The concentrated strength of manufacturing in Burnley means there is a strong basis for attracting companies to the new sites being developed in the borough, such as Innovation Drive and the Vision Park.

A key development for the North West is that Manchester was the second highest local authority area in the country for jobs growth over 2012 – 13, with an increase of over 16 000 jobs in the city. With most of the other authorities achieving such large increases being in London, the growth of Manchester’s economy underlines the importance of Burnley’s work in strengthening Pennine Lancashire’s links to the city.