Yorkshire’s productivity puzzle: can businesses unlock potential?

A recent opinion piece in The Yorkshire Post by Sarah Tulip, chair of our Yorkshire, Humber and North East Productivity Forum, dives into the reasons behind Yorkshire’s ranking as one of the UK’s least productive regions.

The article highlights concerning data from the ONS, showing Yorkshire in the bottom three for Gross Value Added per hour worked. This low productivity is reflected in the underperformance of major cities like Leeds, Sheffield, York, and Bradford.

Sarah explores the factors contributing to this issue. Research from The Productivity Institute’s scorecards identifies a lack of investment as a key barrier. Yorkshire falls short compared to the national average in innovation-active businesses and overall investment levels.

The data also reveals a skills gap, with Yorkshire having the third-lowest percentage of the working-age population holding high-level qualifications. This is further compounded by low investment in information and communication technology (ICT) per job.

So, how can businesses bridge this gap? The article emphasises the need for a proactive and innovation-friendly approach. Businesses must embrace new technologies like AI and invest in training their workforce to utilise these tools effectively.

Despite these challenges, Sarah acknowledges the region’s potential. She notes that Yorkshire cities are finding ways to reinvent themselves and become world leaders in specific innovation sectors and that there is significant room for growth in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital technologies.

You can read the article on The Yorkshire Post website.

You can also read the Yorkshire, Humber and North East productivity briefing paper.