Plymouth had leapt into the list of the UK’s 10 most important manufacturing powerhouses for the first time.
The city has been ranked at number nine for cities with the highest concentration of people working in manufacturing. Britain’s Ocean City is not only the largest manufacturing base in the South of England, but., but cracking the top 10, after previously being ranked at 12 and 13, it is now recognised as a nationally important centre too.
It ranks behind table topper Burnley, and then Derby, Telford, Sunderland, Hull, Blackburn, Barnsley and Huddersfield, and ahead of 10th placed Mansfield.
The listing comes from the recently published Centre for Cities Outlook Report for 2022, which uses Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
The table is compiled of cities with the highest share of people working in manufacturing, with Plymouth, home of large and nationally significant manufacturers such as Babcock International Ltd and Princess Yachts, boasting more than 13%.
That is ahead of Portsmouth’s 9% and Swindon, with just more than 8%, in the South of England. Bristol is only the 17% ranked city in the South, with just over 6% of its population working in factories, and Exeter is at number 21, with only about 3%.
Plymouth Manufacturers’ Group (PMG) said the city’s economy has become increasingly reliant on manufacturing and engineering for its success.
It said that for many years Plymouth has been recognised as being the “manufacturing and engineering powerhouse of the South”, and added: “That remains true, but its inclusion in the top ten listing in the UK is new”.
With 13.28% of Plymouth’s workforce employed in manufacturing this compares with the national average which is almost half as much at 7.69%.
PMG stressed that whilst it is important to note that the figures were captured during the first year of the pandemic, Plymouth’s overall manufacturing employment figures have remained largely resilient throughout, with some firms only temporarily utilising the furlough scheme for a relatively short period of time.
The PMG also said that while Plymouth still relies heavily on Babcock International’s operation at Devonport Royal Dockyard for these numbers, there is “much more to manufacturing and engineering in Plymouth beyond the Dockyard walls”.
It stressed that Princess Yachts now employs more than 3,000 personnel and the industrial estates to the north of the city remain home to a significant number of foreign direct investors from across North America; Europe and the Far East. In fact, more than two-thirds of Plymouth’s largest manufacturers are overseas owned.
Whilst maritime related industries are the city’s prime source of competitive advantage, Plymouth has manufacturers whose products serve a diverse range of markets, some of which are niche including: micro LEDs; luxury mattresses; medical products; aerospace and military components; infrastructure for the IT sector; automotive parts and confectionery. The city also has a healthy supply chain – firms that serve the larger companies – both locally and further afield.
Plymouth’s manufacturers contribute significantly to the wealth created in the city. The latest figures reveal manufacturing accounts for 17.5% of the City’s GVA (gross value added). This is particularly impressive because, nationally, manufacturing barely contributes 10% to the country’s total economy.
Steve Gerry, secretary to the PMG, said: “Plymouth is now for the first time, in modern history at least, a top 10 UK manufacturing City. In previous years we’ve always hovered outside around 12 or 13. And we still maintain our position as the leading city in the whole of the South of England.”
He added: “I remember when I first got involved in economic development 25 years ago, commentators used to say that Plymouth was ‘like a northern city that happened to be on the south coast’. These figures still bear that out with other members of the top ten for manufacturing being the likes of Sunderland; Blackburn and Burnley. Whilst that may be true, I know where I would rather live.”
