John D Blackburn
This study looks at all companies registered in the East of England and where their total assets are more than £8,000,000.The region has a population of 6.3 million in 2017 with the UK being 66 million.The region comprises the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The main towns are Bedford, Luton, Basildon, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Cambridge.The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the key movers and shakers in the East of England corporate sector. Only key data has been isolated, particularly the company’s net worth and total assets, but also its full name, date incorporated, registered office, activities, shareholders, directors (with date of birth, occupation and nationality) and number of employees.Two indicators of size are used: net worth and total assets. These are preferable to turnover which is influenced by profit margins and whether the companies are capital or labour intensive.A short summary of the corporate sector in the East of England:The region is largely rural and coastal with many market towns and a few medium sized cities such as Peterborough, Norwich, Luton and Cambridge. The southern part lies in the London commuter belt. The regional economy is heavily reliant on services, with a strong financial services sector, but also automotive and pharmaceuticals sectors.Total regional output (GVA) in 2016 was £147 billion (UK £1,748 billion) with total output (GVA) per head being £24,041 (UK £26,621). Economic growth (GVA), 2010-2016, was 1.9%, the same as the UK.From May-July 2018, employment was 3,075,000 (UK being 32,397,000) with employment level at 78.4% (UK 75.5%). Unemployment rate in 2018 was 3.1% with the UK being 4%.Manufacturing jobs in 2018 was 7.7% of all jobs and public sector jobs was 15%.The region makes up 8.3% of total UK output, the third largest of any region. Manufacturing accounts for 11.6% of that output, just below the UK average.There were 14,040 manufacturing businesses in the region in 2017, an increase of 1.9% from previous year.The region’s largest manufacturing sectors are food and drink, transport equipment and metals.The region had 565,000 enterprises in 2018 (down 1% on 2017) and 138,000 employers. Some 75% were made up of single employee businesses.There were 36,935 new businesses in 2017 (up 13%) and 37,770 businesses ceased trading (up 13%).
