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Entrepreneurship driving North East job growth

The North East’s entrepreneurial spirit has been hailed as a driving force behind job growth in the region since the financial crash in 2008.

The region saw its jobs count rise by 1.7% in the last 12 months, meaning there are now 2.1% more jobs than there were in 2008, according to the NatWest Regional Economic Tracker.

The Tracker, which monitors employment levels in 11 regions across the UK showing where the fastest job growth has occurred on a quarterly basis, also revealed that self-employment grew by over 16% since 2008, in contrast with employee jobs which rose by 0.4%.

Gateshead has the highest concentration of self employed workers at 11.3%, Newcastle is close behind on 10.7%, whilst 9.6% of jobs in Middlesbrough are filled by the self-employed.

Across the UK self employment has risen by 21.1% cent since 2008, with self-employment now accounting for 14.7% of all jobs.

This increase has transformed the UK economy, particularly for women. The number of self-employed women has increased by over 40% over the past eight years, accounting for 54% of the rise in self-employment.

NatWest Senior Economist Sebastian Burnside commented: “Entrepreneurs are making a fantastically important contribution to the UK’s labour market.

“There are now 4.6 million self-employed people in the UK, an increase of 800,000 since 2008 with women accounting for 433,000 of these new jobs.

“Over the course of the recovery, we have seen the pace of self-employment growth vary. At the beginning in 2009 and 2010, self-employment was growing rapidly even as firms were shedding jobs.

“However, with employers once again recruiting workers and unemployment levels now below 5%, we are starting to see the growth of employee jobs outstrip self-employment’s expansion.”

Are you an entrepreneur in the North East? If so, we want to hear from you. Contact Jamie at jamie.hardesty@bdaily.co.uk to get in touch and share your story.

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