Reading a 'great place' for businesses despite deepening recession

Maxwell Kusi Obodum • Published 26 Jul 2012 07:00 1 Comment

THE double dip recession deepened yesterday (Wednesday) but business leaders insist Reading is bucking the trend.

Gloomy figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal the country's economic output shrank 0.7% during the second quarter of the year, from April to June.

Economists blame the monsoon-like summer and trading days lost during the Jubilee Bank Holiday for the downturn, which follows a 0.3% drop in the first quarter.

But figures from a joint study by Reading-based accountants BDO LLP and business network the Twenties Club revealed 57% of 100 Thames Valley companies surveyed grew their businesses in the the first quarter of the year and 61% predict further growth between now and September.

Andrew Cumpsty, deputy chairman of Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: "Of course businesses in the area are concerned about the economy and the Euro crisis but the vast majority are experiencing growth.

"The Thames Valley has always been the powerhouse of the British economy logistically. We have some amazing companies and fantastic entrepreneurs and the Berkshire area is a great place to do business."

He warned companies to avoid complacency but pointed to the under construction Tesco distribution centre at the former Berkshire Brewery in Whitley as an example of the area's strengths.

Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce policy executive, Clair Prosser, said: "Despite these disappointing figures, the Reading and wider Thames Valley area continues to prosper due to the knowledge based industries and presence of global brands."

ONS figures published last week showed unemployment in Reading fell for the fourth consecutive month, with 3,670 people, 3.4% of the working population, claiming jobseeker's allowance - down 65 from May and 230 from February, when the jobless figure was at its highest since May 2010.

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This article appeared in Local Berkshire 25 Jul 12

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

• 

  Jon Danzig
  Unregistered User
  Jul 26, 08:56
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  I asked government member, Jo Johnson, MP, brother of London Mayor Boris Johnson, if Britain could be a number one economy again. He said no. In fact, as a country he said we are just going to get poorer and poorer relative to other countries. To see the YouTube video of my question and his reply go to:
  
  http://youtu.be/IpvOOqMd6Ww (55 seconds)
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

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