North business takes £1bn hit
Dec 2 2008 by William Green, The Journal
NORTH firms have been hit with £1bn worth of lost business and soaring costs as ministers fail to upgrade inadequate road and rail links.
More than three in five companies are losing business because of poor transport connections and 92% have reported increased costs.
A survey of members of the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) has found individual firms were landed with a £22,256 average bill in the last year because of inadequate links – £4,906 higher than the national total.
Some companies faced costs topping £200,000, while the average bill for a business employing one to four staff was £3,189.
The average cost to a firm with 250 or more workers was £67,291.
And with 50,000 businesses in the region, that means the North East economy may have been hit with a total bill topping £1bn for poor transport links.
Nationally, Britain’s “dilapidated” transport systems are now costing business £23.2bn a year – an increase of £5.7bn since last year – according to chambers of commerce.
Four out of five businesses also warned that the region’s transport infrastructure was hindering economic growth with local and national road congestion a direct problem for them.
And planning transport improvements is taking too long, according to most firms. They also stressed that transport upgrades must come before any road- pricing scheme. Ross Smith, head of policy and research at NECC, said: “It is critical that both Central Government and public bodies with a responsibility for transport within the region recognise the economic contribution that transport makes.”
Mr Smith also said the survey showed the importance of air and port links, with 56% of NECC members highlighting the importance of aviation – 23% more than the UK average.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is campaigning to fully dual the A1, said: “That is a very hard-hitting survey, which justifies what we know from anecdotal and personal experience in the North East that businesses are suffering as a result of Government failure to give us our fair share.”
Dave Anderson, Labour MP for Blaydon, said: “The figures back up what I have been saying since I have become an MP. Anybody who lives here or works here knows it is a big issue.”
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “We recognise the importance of good transport links to the economy and target our funding to key projects in each region.
“That is why we have increased spending in the North East by 30% over the last five years, which includes £400m for improvements to the Metro.”
Page 2: MP encouraged by 'enlightened view'
