New report produced by Pegasus Group on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) also revealed PBS had grown by 41% between 2010 and 2017. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool city region will see an extra 20,000 jobs created in the professional and business services (PBS) sector in the next 20 years, a new report claims.
Produced by Pegasus Group on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) also revealed PBS had grown by 41% between 2010 and 2017, compared to growth of 23.5% across other sectors.
In the city region there were currently 107,000 people employed in the PBS sector across 12,000 companies and contributes £8bn annually to the GVA.
Promote growth
A labour pool created by the local universities will help fill those 20,000 roles, the report says, adding the challenge is to promote growth in sectors that have higher levels of productivity to ensure we are creating jobs for the large number of graduates – 20,000 every year in PBS related subjects.
The study identifies the priorities designed to support the sector’s future growth. These include promoting the sector, supporting schools to prepare young people for the world of work, targeting inward investment activity, providing easy access to finance for high growth businesses and boosting the supply of grade A office space.
Other recommendations include supporting skills development in the PBS workforce, more co-ordination around school and business engagement, and working to improve five-year survival rates for local businesses.
It also suggests there must be a strong focus on co-ordinating and supporting efforts to scale up local technology companies and secure a vibrant digital and creative community.
‘Exciting stage’
Asif Hamid, chair of the LEP, said: “The city region is at an exciting stage in its regeneration and, despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, business confidence has remained, and this review clearly sets out the potential for further growth.
“Professional and business Services in the Liverpool city region accounts for approximately a quarter of all firms – it is a crucial sector at the heart of making this region more prosperous and needs the right support.”
Steve Stuart, chair of the LEP’s PBS board and prominent member of the local PBS sector, added: “This baseline review provides us with a clear picture of the sector as well as an analysis of the critical matters that need to be faced to keep the sector moving forward.”