Yorkshire economy puts in strong performance in December

The Yorkshire economy is continuing to perform strongly across many sectors compared with other parts of the country, according to the latest research by R3.

In December, the region’s manufacturing sector had the lowest percentage of businesses at higher than normal risk of any of the 12 regions surveyed. ÂÂ

Yorkshire was also among the strongest in hotels, pubs, technology and IT, construction and agriculture, all of which had lower levels of businesses at higher than normal risk than the national average.

This month, just 2,379 of the 12,876 active manufacturing firms in Yorkshire were identified as being in the overall negative band. This is equivalent to 18.5% of manufacturers in the region, well below the UK-wide figure of 21.2%.

Sectors where the region fared less well include transport and haulage, restaurants, professional services and retail. ÂÂ

Overall, 49,813 businesses in Yorkshire were deemed to be at higher than normal risk, equating to 23.4% of active businesses in the region, slightly above the national figure of 21.5%.

Adrian Berry, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and restructuring partner at Deloitte LLP, said: “While it is good news that the region is holding its own in many sectors, with our specialism in manufacturing in particular continuing to drive the local economy, it is worrying that almost a quarter of firms in the region are considered to be at higher than normal risk.

“With ongoing uncertainty about Brexit, together with instability in Europe and the US, the political and economic landscape is far from stable and businesses would be wise to prepare for some rocky times ahead.“

R3 uses research compiled from Bureau van Dijk’s ‘Fame’ database of company information to track the number of businesses in key regional  sectors that have a heightened risk of entering insolvency in the next year.