Partner Article

RDA making its mark

A new report into the impact of England’s Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), which includes One North East, has asserted that they have generated economic benefits that significantly outweigh their costs.

The analysis of the spending impact of all nine RDAs was carried out by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) on behalf of the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

The study looked at a range of RDA investments over the past five years and the outcomes achieved for their respective regions.

Its key findings show that between 2002-03 and 2006-07, for every £1 spent by the RDAs, an average of £4.50 of economic output (or Gross Value Added - GVA) was put back into regional economies.

According to the PWC report, in the past five years One North East has helped to create more than 24,400 jobs and 1,140 new businesses. The organisation has also helped more than 6,300 people into employment and more than 98,000 people to gain new skills.

Margaret Fay, One North East Chairman, said: “At this challenging time for the economy I am especially pleased to see the value of our business support investment performing so well for the North East.

“While these figures detail our performance over the past five years, the economic downturn is very much our priority now, and moving forward we are ensuring that our investment is channelled wherever possible into the areas which will have the maximum return for North East business.

“At the same time as dealing with the immediate effects of the recession, it is essential that we take the longer-term view and reshape the North East economy to capitalise on the new growth industries that will place the region in a stronger position for the upturn.”

The Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ ‘Impact of RDA Spending’ report can be viewed at www.onenortheast.co.uk/impact.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .