Sheffield's economy was growing 'very significantly' before Covid-19

South Yorkshire’s economy was ‘growing significantly’ before coronavirus hit the region, bosses have said.
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Dave Smith, Sheffield City Region chief executive, told a scrutiny board meeting about the impact the virus has had on the economy.

Councillors were told the region’s economy had experienced a ‘net gain of 15,000 private jobs’ and this wasn’t seen even in the ‘boom years’ in the mid 2000s.

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A report to board members shows a worse-case scenario could result in 40,000 jobs being lost due to the pandemic.

Sheffield City Region chief executive Dave SmithSheffield City Region chief executive Dave Smith
Sheffield City Region chief executive Dave Smith

Mr Smith said the crisis was ‘clearly a massive setback’, but, following the recovery in 2008, he was confident the region can bounce back again.

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He said: “The irony is, up until the Coronavirus crisis, through the work everyone has done coming out of the 2008 recession, we were beginning to build an economy that was growing significantly and modernising and becoming sustainable.

“It was going to take advantage of new technologies in manufacturing and education for example.

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“We easily forget because there is so much gloom and concern that by 2018 we had achieved a net growth of private sector jobs not seen in a generation and had a net gain of 15,000 jobs in South Yorkshire.

“That hadn’t been seen in the boom years like the 2000s, when the economy was flourishing.

“The road to recovery and how fast we get there depends on shaping the last few years around working together locally and sharing the same message to government constantly.

“The more we’re seen to be working together, the more powerful our message will be.”

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