Introduction

Each year, to 2007/08, an Economic Assessment of Wiltshire has been produced on behalf of the Wiltshire Strategic Economic Partnership (WSEP), or its predecessor.  It should be noted that the 2007/08 Assessment covers a period of good UK growth immediately prior to the severe economic downturn (commencing Spril 2008).

The key headlines for 2007/08 are:

Wiltshire Economic Performance

• Wiltshire’s workplace based economic output was worth £7,450m in 2006.
• In terms of economic output per head, Wiltshire was ranked 6th out of 12 regionally, at £16,574 per head. 
• However, in the more meaningful output per worker competitiveness measure, Wiltshire is the 5th best performer across the SW.
• Services dominate the economy and by 2020 it is forecast that the top contributors to Wiltshire's economy will be Government and Other Services and Financial and Business Services.
• In 2006, Gross Disposable Household Income per head was the highest of all the SW NUTS 3 areas, and significantly higher than the national average.
• Externally focussed sectors such as manufacturing, business services and transport and communications account for 34% of Wiltshire employment.  This is crucially important to the economic wellbeing of the county as this means that the economy can support more jobs than if it relied on indigenous trade alone.
• However, in the past 10 years Wiltshire has still been losing competitive advantage against the rest of the SW region and against neighbouring economies.
• The loss can be explained by a combination of at least 4 key factors: its attraction as a place to live rather than work; its location (close proximity to major and competitive economies); ongoing gradual employment decline of Manufacturing and Public Administration and Defence; lower employment growth than competitor areas in higher value added growth employment service sectors.

Business and Enterprise

• At the start of 2009 there were 19,550 VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses in Wiltshire.
• Wiltshire has higher proportions of smaller businesses in employment and turnover terms than regionally and nationally.  It also has higher proportions of older established businesses. 
• Over the last 10 years, Wiltshire has experienced a relatively good rate of business growth.
• As regards start up activity, Wiltshire has a consistently higher rate of VAT registrations than the SW and GB averages and businesses that do start up in Wiltshire tend to have a better rate of survival than regionally and nationally.

Labour market

Labour supply – residence based 

• In 2008, Wiltshire had a resident population of 455,500 and the population is expected to reach the half million mark somewhere around 2020, if not before.
• Its population profile is somewhat younger than the regional age profile but somewhat older than the national.
• It has a higher working age economic activity rate and higher employment rate than either the region or the nation.
• Its working age residents are better qualified than their regional or national counterparts.
• 2008 Key Stage 2 results show the Local Education Authority (LEA) to be above the national average attainment in English and Science and slightly behind in Mathematics.
• 2008 GCSE results show the LEA performed just marginally below the national average for 15/16 yr olds achieving "good" GCSEs.  However, in English and Maths, the area performs significantly above the national and regional averages.
• Average weekly workplace based earnings in Wiltshire for 2008 were marginally higher than the SW and marginally lower than the GB average.  Average residence based weekly earnings were significantly higher than the regional average and marginally higher than the national average.

Labour demand – workplace based 

• From 1997 to 2007, growth in Wiltshire workplace employment (9%) was somewhat lower than nationally and significantly lower than regionally.
• Wiltshire has led the way in moving towards a workplace economy which is characterised by higher order jobs, with 59% either Managers, Professionals or Skilled trades people.

Labour market equilibrium 

• Wiltshire has a lower rate of unemployment than regionally or nationally.
• The vacancies most difficult to fill are almost all lower skilled jobs.
• Since the start of the economic downturn, it is noticeable that the proportion of higher skilled unfilled job vacancies have declined in favour of the growth in the proportion of unskilled unfilled job vacancies.
• Wiltshire has a relatively large out-commuting population and around 65% of the net commute losses stem from higher level occupations.

Property

• In July-September 2007, the average house price in Wiltshire was 5% higher than the regional average and 12% higher than the national average.
• The average house costs approximately 7.5 times the average annual wage of Wiltshire's residents and 8.0 times the average annual wage of its workers, which actually makes it relatively affordable compared to other locations at least.
• However, Wiltshire house prices remain too high for younger people and the lower skilled (and paid), who tend to rely on local jobs.
• During May 2008-May 2009 the impact of the recession increased the overall availability of office floorspace in Wiltshire by 17% to 695,000 sq ft, with the number of units available rising to 108.
• In addition, the overall availability of premises allocated to industrial use increased significantly to 861,643 sq ft, a rise of 56.7%.  The total number of units rose to 137.
• Overall employment land availability remained static at 150.4 acres, in 11 sites across Wiltshire.
• Over the last year, there has been a number of secured or potential key investments and developments in Wiltshire, including:
  • Castledown Business Centre at Ludgershall.
  • Construction of the Castledown Innovation Centre at Ludgershall.
  • Koch Fertiliser's operating base on the Marlborough Business Park.
  • Ongoing development of Salisbury Vision and related projects.
  • Staff relocations to Dstl Porton Down.
  • Project Chrysalis planning application.
  • Plans for a new Bioscience/technology Centre at Porton Down.
  • Plans for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge.
  • Ongoing development of Solstice Park.
  • The Military Civilian Integration Programme and the development of the Salisbury Plain Super Garrison.
  • Bath Road Trade Centre, Chippenham - completed at the end of 2007.
  • Bowman Court, Whitehill Lane, Wootton Bassett.
  • The Glove Factory Studios in Holt - completed in 2009.
  • Kingston Mills, Bradford on Avon - due for completion in Spril 2011.
  • Thor Industrial Estate, Normandy Lane, Cricklade.
  • Phase 11, Methuen Park.
  • Phase 1, Turnpike Business Park, Chippenham - to be started soon.
  • Retail investments recently completed include Parkridge shopping/residential development in Trowbridge, Sainsburys in Trowbridge, Asda in Melksham and relocation of the West Country Farmers shop.  Morrisons recently moved into the old Coopers supermarket site in Westbury.

Click here for the 2007/08 Economic Assessment.