Historically, IT has been the disruptor. From Retail to Transportation, the integration of technology has meant that monopolistic incumbents have lost market share to new upstarts, who have carved out their own share of the market. As an example, imagine that 20 years ago, Black Cab drivers could expect to earn £100,000+ per annum. With Uber, the profession has been permanently changed.
In the decade to 2020, the Greater Manchester economy grew by 39% from £53.89 billion to £78.7 billion and it has been one of the major UK city-regions driving job growth nationwide. With that, Manchester is the largest regional financial, professional, and business services hub outside of London, employing more than 280,000 people. With that in mind, the city has made a strategic gambit to attract international businesses, as part of a north-shoring strategy, where as a result, Spinningfield now has companies located there across Banking, Consulting, Insurance, Law and Technology, employing over 20,000 people overall.
“It’s the economy, stupid.” And in that moment, the paradigm by which political discourse became viewed changed. Now with a new Labour Government in situ, the signs are for the most redistributive budget to be seen in many generations. In fact, given the fact New Labour mostly signed up to the tenets of the prior Conservative regime, you would have to go back to pre-Thatcher to understand how this Government seeks to govern.
After a protracted slowdown in the post pandemic period, the life sciences sector is finally springing back to life. July was the record month this year so far and the signs are positive looking forward. In terms of what had caused the lull, it is worth factoring that with the UK leaving the EU this had meant that the MHRA had to take over regulatory approvals for new trials, and this process has taken time to bed in.
The transactional nature of the London Law Firms means that activity here acts as a good barometer into confidence in the economy. Increases in Law Firm hiring typically can be directly linked to greater demand for their services, either from the Banks, on the one hand, or the Real Estate sector on the other. Therefore the fact that over the last three months, vacancies have been higher this year, than in both 2022 and 2023, is a positive sign, reinforced by a general consensus that the UK economy is performing better than many anticipated, which is reflected in GBP strengthening.
