South: Oxford, Reading and Southampton top three cities in UK, says PwC report
Oxford and Reading are the UK’s top cities, PwC’s Good Growth for Cities index 2017 - with Southampton now in third place.
Oxford and Reading, followed by Southampton are the three top performing cities in the UK as the South-East continues to lead the latest Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities index.
For the second year running, the two highest performing UK cities are Oxford and Reading, with Oxford maintaining its narrow lead at the top. The most recent results also show a continuing gap between these two cities and the rest of the index. This reflects continued improvement across a range of measures in each of these cities, particularly jobs, income and skills.
John Ellis, office senior partner for PwC in Reading, commented: "It’s great that Reading is one of the highest performing UK cities for the second year running.
“The growth story for the South East is compelling given the high GVA and attractiveness of the region to business. Reading and the Thames Valley form a key part of that growth agenda with further steady expansion expected, thanks to continued investment and improved transport links like Crossrail further opening up the region.
“Reading at the top of this year’s index reflects continued improvement across a range of measures, including jobs, income, skills and achieving the highest health score in the index.”
Published today, the sixth annual Good Growth for Cities 2017 index sets out to show that there’s more to life, work and general well-being than GDP. The index measures the performance of 42 of the UK’s largest cities, England’s Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and the nine Combined Authorities against a basket of ten indicators based on the views of the public as to what is key to economic success and wellbeing.
These include employment, health, income and skills - the most important factors, as judged by the public - while housing affordability, commuting times, environmental factors and income inequality are also included, as is the number of new business starts.
Oxford and Reading top the good growth index for second year running
Oxford and Reading were again the two highest performing large UK cities in the index, with the most recent results showing that the historic gap between these two cities and the rest of the index remains significant, although this gap has narrowed slightly this year.
The presence of both Oxford and Reading at the top of this year’s index reflects continued improvement across a range of measures, including jobs, income and skills. Both cities also perform strongly on our measures of new business and health, with Reading achieving the highest health score in the index. In addition to the performance of Oxford and Reading, it’s notable that Southampton has moved up a position to become the third highest performing city.
