1. www.hertsdirect.org Economic Development Update Policy and Resources Panel 14 July 2009

2. www.hertsdirect.org State of the Hertfordshire Economy Hertfordshire Works Emerging Vision

3. www.hertsdirect.org National Context – mixed message Bank of England Purchasing Managers Index British Chamber of Commerce Lending Housing Commercial Property Construction Output

4. www.hertsdirect.org Hertfordshire Unemployment ILO Definition -5%(estimate May 2009) -3.7%(June 2008) -10%(early 1990s) East of England 6% UK 7.2%

5. www.hertsdirect.org Claimant Count May 2009196573% May 2008 82341.2% Stevenage4.3% Sales & Customer Service

6. www.hertsdirect.org Vacancies May 2009 2992 April 2009 2868 March 2009 3013 May 20085625

7. www.hertsdirect.org Young People NEETs - May 20095.5% - May 20084.5% Particularly 18 year olds Stevenage 40% higher than County average Learning rate up to 82.7% from 80.5% last year

8. www.hertsdirect.org Redundancies - 700 Jan – May 2009 - 900 expected over the next 9 months - All sectors, all locations - 2/3 of redundancies are in companies employing less than 100 staff - Job levels unlikely to be regained until 2015

9. www.hertsdirect.org Housing - Average house price in Hertfordshire £276,300 - Nationally £197,000 - House prices fallen 14.8% from April 2008-09 - Housing completions 2008/09 3563 2007/08 4271 2006/07 4345

10. www.hertsdirect.org Hertfordshire Works £4m PRG through ‘Recession to Recovery Programme’ -£480k already allocated to additional funding to CABX for 5 specialist debt advisers - £800k for Apprenticeships - £300k for skills training for SME’s and social enterprise - £500k capital for local shopping centres improvement fund - £200k for Business Retention and Inward Investment - £1.5m capital for Incubation Centre

11. www.hertsdirect.org Inward Investment Manager appointed Future Jobs Fund bid to Central Government for 200 apprenticeships for young people who are long term unemployed Business Advisory Groups in place SME Procurement and Supply Chain Initiative Olympics Legacy / Waltham Cross Renaissance Group

12. www.hertsdirect.org A fresh economic vision for Hertfordshire - Visioning Workshop 6 July 2009 - Draft Strategy by Hertfordshire Forward Conference November 2009

13. www.hertsdirect.org STRENGTHS - Varied Economy - Skilled Workforce - Proximity to London - Quality of life WEAKNESSES - Weak brand/mixed messages - Infrastructure - High cost of Housing - Pockets of economic disadvantage

14. www.hertsdirect.org OPPORTUNITIES - Build on Clusters - Nurture SMEs - Green Jobs - Olympics THREATS - Slow recovery - Loss of competitive advantage - Poor quality jobs - Congestion

15. www.hertsdirect.org Emerging Vision VARIED & RESILIENT ECONOMY -Diverse, not over reliant on few sectors or multinationals -Building on our strengths – pharmaceuticals, hi-tech engineering, communications & media -Retaining existing firms & encouraging them to grow -Supporting SMEs -Promoting entrepreneurs

16. www.hertsdirect.org QUALITY JOBS -High Wages, skilled jobs -Knowledge intensive -Personal Services

17. www.hertsdirect.org QUALITY LOCATIONS -Key sites -Flexible development briefs -Sustainable development -Unlocking Infrastructure

18. www.hertsdirect.org WELL SKILLED WORKFORCE -Skills for the future -Linked to what employers want -Apprenticeships from work experience to graduates -Key to addressing inequalities

19. www.hertsdirect.org INNOVATIVE AND NETWORKED -Optimising our clusters -Strong supply chains and networks -Strong business engagement

20. www.hertsdirect.org STRONG OFFER & IDENTITY -Clear Brand -Culture of ‘Yes’ -Inward Investment Portal and Support

21. www.hertsdirect.org ‘SMART’ GOVERNMENT -Advocacy -Clear standards -Appropriate interventions