North West

The Northwest is a £106bn (2005) economy with 242,000 firms, predominantly small and medium enterprises. The regional economy went through a major period of restructuring and underperformance during the 1980s and 1990s but since then has grown faster than the England average.

The Northwest was dominated by large manufacturing companies, which are still vital and very productive. However, the structure of the region’s economy is becoming increasingly similar to that of the UK as a whole, moving towards the service sector, and especially business and professional services.

In 1998, the region’s economic activity rate was 75.4% – lower than every other English region except the North East, and 3.5% behind the England average. Between 1998 and 2005 this has turned around, with economic activity rates increasing faster than any other region and the gap reducing to just 1.7%, halving the differential during the last seven years.