How England’s regions can map out a sustainable recovery

The reopening of the economy and the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions saw the UK’s economic recovery get underway at pace in 2021, triggering the largest economic rebound in history. This resilient performance suggests that – in economic terms at least – the UK has navigated much of the disruption resulting from the pandemic to date with limited economic scarring. However, the immediate opportunities to rebound from the pandemic have now been grasped, and further growth may prove more challenging, particularly in the face of a resurgence in inflation over the second half of 2021. The reintroduction of government advice to restrict certain activities in response to the Omicron variant adds a further note of caution to the economic outlook and signals a potentially bumpy road ahead.

Peter Arnold, EY’s UK Chief Economist, shares a preview of our latest regional economic forecast. Joined by Rohan Malik, EY’s UK&I Managing Partner – Markets & Accounts, they discuss the impact of the pandemic on England’s regions, cities and towns, and the prospects for levelling up.

Topics discussed include:

• Topics discussed include:

• What is the economic impact of COVID-19 across England’s regions, cities and towns, and when can we expect to get back to pre-pandemic levels?

• Has the pandemic set back the Government’s ambitions around levelling up or provided new opportunities to advance it?

• What is needed to support positive levelling up over the longer term?

The full forecast is available for download here.

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