We had a nice surprise from the Office for National Statistics in South Lakeland a couple of weeks ago. We have become the fastest-growing economy in Cumbria, overtaking our two nearest cities in terms of gross value added.
The economy was now worth £2.6bn, up £100m from the previous year. We saw significant increases across a range of industry sectors: manufacturing, commerce, agriculture, tourism. There was a high level of new enterprise start-ups, with an above average chance of surviving past the first three years. The number of professional jobs rose from 37% to 43% between 2014 and 2017, while the semi-skilled workforce had reduced from 27% to 13% in the same period.
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