THE Notts and Derbyshire economy is a varied economy employing nearly 900,000 with a gross value added – or GVA, the value of goods and services produced in an area – of close to £40 billion.
It saw disappointing employment growth figures during the last growth period of 2000 to 2008 but proved relatively resilient during the economic downturn.
Overall employment has remained relatively similar over the past decade but, while manufacturing remains a continuing strength of the area, one third of its employment base was lost during the period 1998 to 2008.
Notts and Derbyshire has one of the largest industrial bases in the UK, and the area has strengths in export related to industries such as Boots and Rolls-Royce.
While some of this employment has been replaced by private sector service-based jobs, public sector employment accounted for much of the area's growth during this period.
D2N2's priority sectors, excluding low carbon, account for nearly one fifth of the employment base, employing more than 150,000 people.
Of these, the visitor economy is the largest while the highest level of growth during the period 1998 to 2008 was the construction sector with its quarries and gravel extraction, although it has faced more challenging times over the past five years.
More recently there has been significant growth in the health and bioscience sector.
The business base in the two counties fell following a period of growth during 2004-2008 which was above the national average. The area has a low business density with just 314 businesses per 10,000 population, compared to 399 nationally.
The labour market has lower than average skill levels and a lack of professional occupations, although the skills base has been improving.
The area also has significant higher education and research strengths.
And the advanced manufacturing sector grew at 4.3% between 2008/10 creating 2,300 job.
The tow counties continue to have a relatively high unemployment rate and economic inactivity rate, although employment rates have grown higher than the national average during the period 2004-2012. The predominantly rural local authority areas have performed well over recent years.
Features of the regional economy include:
A diverse area, including two major cities, smaller centres serving rural hinterlands and a strong rural economy;
A central location with, affordable business land, excellent infrastructure, competitive wage rates and a high quality of life;
Home to some world renowned visitor destinations and tourism assets (he Peak District, Sherwood Forest)
A smaller than average and declining private sector base, particularly the private service sector
Lower than average population growth.