Local Market Information

The performance of the North Norfolk economy is dependent upon local, national, and international factors.  The powers of the District Council and its partners are relatively limited and should be seen in the context of providing business with the best possible environment in which to expand and prosper and, where necessary, by taking remedial action where problems of business closure and high levels of unemployment exist.  Planning can assist this process by ensuring that sufficient land is identified and retained for employment uses and by adopting a range of policies to facilitate employment growth.
 
Responsibility for economic development at regional level, including allocation of resources in support of economic objectives is devolved to the East of England Economic Development Agency (EEDA).  This was established in 1999 with the remit of supporting and contributing to wider productivity, employment and sustainable development objectives.  The Authority works closely with EEDA via its Economic Development staff.  The East of England Plan (Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies) outlines the regional planning Framework.   
 
The East of England has a £76 billion per annum economy employing 2.7 million people.  The region covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.  It stretches from the edge of London in the south to coastal and rural areas to the north and east.  It is a new region with an area of 19,120 square kilometres and a population of some5.5 million.  It contains 17 medium-sized town and city conurbations, each with populations in excess of 50,000.
 
The economy of the East of England is closely related to, and dependent upon, the London economy.  The region also adjoins the East Midlands and South East regions, and there are links to all three through infrastructure and cross-boundary business sectors, clusters and supply chains.  The East of England has a higher proportion of rural and coastal market towns and villages than other UK regions, and more than a third of its residents live in settlements of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants.
 
The Norfolk economy still lags behind that of the rest of the East of England.  The North Norfolk Economic Development Strategy, adopted in July 2005, recognises that the economy of North Norfolk is relatively narrow and is historically reliant on a number of declining sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.  Retailing, health and social care and public administration are increasingly important sectors.   Tourism is, and will continue to be, a significant sector in terms of its value to the local economy.
 
North Norfolk has the lowest economic activity rates of the seven Norfolk Districts.   The workforce of North Norfolk has higher proportions of the population with no qualifications than the national average and unemployment is about 4% compared with 5% nationally (2001 Census).  In relation to earnings, North Norfolk does not perform well, compared with the County and national averages.
 
Employment in knowledge-based industries is currently recognised as a key measure of economic competitiveness, which is a determinant of current and future prosperity.  Compared with the East of England, where 17% of jobs are in the knowledge based industries, North Norfolk has only 6%.  North Norfolk is also characterised by having a large number of small businesses (86% employed 10 or fewer employees).  However, the District has a large number of self-employed people (22% compared with 12% nationally) and a higher proportion of VAT registered firms per 10,000 working age population (487 compared with 409 nationally) indicating a high level of entrepreneurship.
 
Assessment of where people travel to work indicates a high level of self containment within the District.  Around 81% of jobs in the District are taken by residents and approximately 70% of the population travel less than 20km to work.  Approximately 44% of the available jobs are located in the rural areas outside of the seven market towns.  Nearly 20% of the jobs in the District are provided by just 11 companies. In terms of the number of people it employs, retailing is the largest sector providing 17 % of total employment.