Technology is key to economic fightback – survey

YORKSHIRE-based retailers who have embraced technology are set to overshadow their high street rivals, as the UK economy makes tentative steps towards recovery, according to a new survey.

Value-end retailers, including Normanton-based Poundworld, and metal recyclers, CF Booth in Rotherham, have joined the region’s top tier of companies, according to the annual Yorkshire Report 2012 by accountancy and business advisory firm BDO.

The BDO report, now in its sixth year, compiles the latest published accounts from Yorkshire’s largest Top 150 businesses, based on revenue, creating a barometer of economic health for the region.

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Representing almost half of the Top 150 companies are retailers, business service providers and manufacturers.

However, Ian Beaumont, partner and head of BDO in Leeds, said that “less populist” sectors are also making a contribution to the region’s recovery.

He added: “Businesses have continued to fight against a challenging economic backdrop and there are a number of sectors that have made an impressive return to form.

“There are naturally some sector disparities but overall there is a very positive story to tell.

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“There is welcome evidence that technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector is continuing to make good headway, as is our chemical and biotech industry which has seen profits rocket from £5m to £40m this year.”

BDO’s Yorkshire Report reveals that Yorkshire-based waste management companies have seen their revenues increase by nearly 40 per cent and profits rise by 50 per cent.

However, losses remain in the construction sector. A £16m deficit was recorded this year but, compared to a loss of £84m in 2011 and the mammoth £533m loss in 2010, the results show a step in the right direction.

York-based heavyweights Persimmon and Shepherd Building Group have remained in the Top 150 for the last six years.

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The retail sector has – perhaps surprisingly – proved to be one of the most profitable, according to the report, with an average profit after tax of £44m; a 22 per cent rise on last year.

But supermarket giants Asda and Morrisons, who alone account for more than 77 per cent of the sector’s profit after tax, skew these results significantly.

Mr Beaumont said: “The gap is widening between retailers with a strong internet offering and those reliant on high street footfall.

“Momentum is building behind new mobile platforms that will make engagement with consumers easier and retailers with the ambition, innovation and technology will be the success stories of the future.”