Portsmouth set for trend-busting economic growth in 2020

A STRONG year has been predicted for the city’s economy, according to new research.
By Hope Mckellar
Published 20th Jan 2020, 16:48 BST
Updated 21st Jan 2020, 18:23 BST
10/10/19 Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is visiting Portsmouth Port as part of UK infrastructure day. Pictured ; GV of the Portsmouth International Port. Picture : Habibur Rahman10/10/19 Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is visiting Portsmouth Port as part of UK infrastructure day. Pictured ; GV of the Portsmouth International Port. Picture : Habibur Rahman
10/10/19 Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is visiting Portsmouth Port as part of UK infrastructure day. Pictured ; GV of the Portsmouth International Port. Picture : Habibur Rahman

Portsmouth, along with other cities in the south, will dominate the league table for the fastest economic growth this year, a new report by Irwin Mitchell has said.

According to the law firm’s latest UK Powerhouse study, Portsmouth will have the second fastest growth in GVA after Reading in the 12 months to quarter four in 2020.

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SEE ALSO: Almost £2.5m lost every year due to empty businesses in Portsmouth

It has been predicted that Portsmouth will see an acceleration of economic growth between Q3 2019 and Q4 2020, despite growth being expected to slow for nearly all of the 46 UK Powerhouse cities.

The report, which has been produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), attributes the city’s growth to its large port and naval dockyard and the £700m of non-EU trade handled each year.

Vicky Brackett, CEO of Irwin Mitchell’s business legal services division, said: ‘Although most cities will see a slowing of growth in the coming quarters, there are clusters of activity and opportunity, as shown in this report. In particular, Portsmouth, Reading and Exeter are all expected to see relatively fast paced growth in the year to Q4 2020, showing resilience in the face of Brexit-related uncertainty and a global economic slowdown.’

Related topics:PortsmouthIrwin MitchellReadingBrexit

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