The UK Towns & Cities With The Highest And Lowest Wages

[Benfleet A1]

It's on the BBC News website ( could someone kindly chuck a link up please) And sitting pretty rock bottom is......... Southend. What needs to be done to improve the fortunes of the 'old girl'.

 

[AndyT]

Linky :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43729508

 

[MK Shrimper]

You could all move to MK :hilarious:

 

[Mad Cyril]

It's on the BBC News website ( could someone kindly chuck a link up please) And sitting pretty rock bottom is......... Southend. What needs to be done to improve the fortunes of the 'old girl'.

The council needs to entice large and small employers to the region by investing in business facilities and the government needs to offer tax perks.

Tourism only helps those who own businesses. How man people who work down the seafront earn above minimum wage, a pension or even guaranteed hours? Wet weekend? Don't bother coming in.

Meanwhile the rest of us endure traffic congestion, pollution and seafront traders whinging about parking.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Southend used to have a thriving business area along Victoria Avenue and in and around the High Street. With the withdrawal of the banking offices, in particular, the area has dropped further and further. This is pretty shocking considering where the town probably stood about 25 years ago.

Time for the Council to really think about some decent regeneration and employment opportunities. Attract some big businesses back to the town and open up alternatives to commuting up to London.

I remember when I was Chief Cashier at Midland Bank in the High Street, we'd have "special arrangements" for many of the big customers along Victoria Avenue, certainly having a clerk specifically responsible for dealing with HMRC and all their many payments and transfers.

 

[Firestorm]

and its in the worst air quality rankings too

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43964341

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The council needs to entice large and small employers to the region by investing in business facilities and the government needs to offer tax perks.

Tourism only helps those who own businesses. How man people who work down the seafront earn above minimum wage, a pension or even guaranteed hours? Wet weekend? Don't bother coming in.

I'm disappointed. I thought you were going to suggest that the easiest way to shoot up the table is for all the builders to declare all their earnings to HMRC.

 

[Firestorm]

The town thrived whilst London office space prices were high, regional offices were a way of keeping costs down and our rail links into the city were an advantage.

the demand was high which put the rent up slowly and the combination of too many new offices built in the early 80's and the property slump in the late 80's saw London rents plummet and the need for regional offices dwindled.

CE Heath remained Loyal to Southend , but they were taken over / merged with Lamberts , who were equally loyal to Swindon and lost .....

Basically its a commuter town now with just local businesses (Keymed excepted) providing the local employment .

I dread to think what will happen if the passporting proposals post brexit are insufficient for the City's requirements

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Southend used to have a thriving business area along Victoria Avenue and in and around the High Street. With the withdrawal of the banking offices, in particular, the area has dropped further and further. This is pretty shocking considering where the town probably stood about 25 years ago.

Time for the Council to really think about some decent regeneration and employment opportunities. Attract some big businesses back to the town and open up alternatives to commuting up to London.

I remember when I was Chief Cashier at Midland Bank in the High Street, we'd have "special arrangements" for many of the big customers along Victoria Avenue, certainly having a clerk specifically responsible for dealing with HMRC and all their many payments and transfers.

25 years ago I was living in and going to school in Southend.

I didn't know what I wanted to do for a living but I'd long since assumed it would be in London. It didn't even cross my mind to work in Southend.

Bringing in big businesses back to the town isn't going to create many high quality jobs. It would be mainly call centre minimum wage type stuff.

I don't know what the University specialises in, but you need to build up from that and the airport combined with making it a nicer place to live. It's ranked 60th out of 63 for percentage of population 18-29 (but only 40th for 0-17 - the young are fleeing at the first opportunity). Encourage immigrants in with fresh ideas (Southend's ranked 51st for people born outside the UK, whereas the top 5 places on the average wage list rank 2nd, 10th, 9th, 11th and 4th), improve/subsidise the transport links around town (without a car it's easier to commute to London than to the other side of town). Drop business rates in the High Street to encourage independent start-ups offering something other than what you get in Lakeside etc and encourage change of use from shops to cafes and restaurants.

It has good schools, the best weather in the country, the sea front and with the airport expanding increasingly good transport links to the continent which will be valuable if we stay in the Single Market. That's a lot to build on but the Council has wasted all those EU subsidies and the state of the pier remains a metaphor for the town.

 

[johnlattimerssponge]

You could all move to MK :hilarious:

What with League Two football and seeing how many times you post in the what is hacking you off today thread I will stay in Southend. :winking:

 

[Mad Cyril]

I'm disappointed. I thought you were going to suggest that the easiest way to shoot up the table is for all the builders to declare all their earnings to HMRC.

How would they afford six bedroom houses and four cars then?

 

[Mad Cyril]

25 years ago I was living in and going to school in Southend.

I didn't know what I wanted to do for a living but I'd long since assumed it would be in London. It didn't even cross my mind to work in Southend.

Bringing in big businesses back to the town isn't going to create many high quality jobs. It would be mainly call centre minimum wage type stuff.

I don't know what the University specialises in, but you need to build up from that and the airport combined with making it a nicer place to live. It's ranked 60th out of 63 for percentage of population 18-29 (but only 40th for 0-17 - the young are fleeing at the first opportunity). Encourage immigrants in with fresh ideas (Southend's ranked 51st for people born outside the UK, whereas the top 5 places on the average wage list rank 2nd, 10th, 9th, 11th and 4th), improve/subsidise the transport links around town (without a car it's easier to commute to London than to the other side of town). Drop business rates in the High Street to encourage independent start-ups offering something other than what you get in Lakeside etc and encourage change of use from shops to cafes and restaurants.

It has good schools, the best weather in the country, the sea front and with the airport expanding increasingly good transport links to the continent which will be valuable if we stay in the Single Market. That's a lot to build on but the Council has wasted all those EU subsidies and the state of the pier remains a metaphor for the town.

I alway assumed I would work in London.

I would take a pay cut to work in Southend, Chelmsford or anywhere I could cycle to now.

 

[MK Shrimper]

What with League Two football and seeing how many times you post in the what is hacking you off today thread I will stay in Southend. :winking:

Hey, have I been hacked off about them being relegated (and apparantly in the worst situation they've ever been in if you read the local rags). No!

MK 1 JLS 0 :raspberry:

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

The average weekly wage in Tower Hamlets is apparently £960 per week and in Sutton only £518.
I suppose Tower Hamlets includes a large part of Canary Wharf and the £1million pound flats. But must also include some pretty poor areas. I guess the people in the expensive areas earn much more than the average of £960 per week.

Ah I see now the stats are based on where the actual job is rather than where the person lives. So although the average wage in Southend is £413 but as 1 in 5 people commute to London the actual average wage per resident will be higher than the £413.

Also if someone is a remote worker then their average wage will be included in the figure for where their head office is based.

 

[Firestorm]

The average weekly wage in Tower Hamlets is apparently £960 per week and in Sutton only £518.
I suppose Tower Hamlets includes a large part of Canary Wharf and the £1million pound flats. But must also include some pretty poor areas. I guess the people in the expensive areas earn much more than the average of £960 per week.

Ah I see now the stats are based on where the actual job is rather than where the person lives. So although the average wage in Southend is £413 but as 1 in 5 people commute to London the actual average wage per resident will be higher than the £413.

Also if someone is a remote worker then their average wage will be included in the figure for where their head office is based.

I read yesterday that the average wage for a Southend resident is £ 144 PW higher than the average wage paid for a job in Southend.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Plenty of people commute in from MK - but there's also a lot of companies here (a lot of haulage most definitely) as MK is halfway between London & Brum, and East-West too. NR obviously has it's HQ here which employs 3000 people.

I guess Southend, like a lot of old seaside towns, are just to remote for business.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

I read yesterday that the average wage for a Southend resident is £ 144 PW higher than the average wage paid for a job in Southend.

Ok that sounds a bit more like it. So it's probably possible to work out what the 1 in 5 commuters/remote workers in Southend are earning.
I wonder what the figures for Castle Point and Rochford are? Probably similar.

 

[Firestorm]

Plenty of people commute in from MK - but there's also a lot of companies here (a lot of haulage most definitely) as MK is halfway between London & Brum, and East-West too. NR obviously has it's HQ here which employs 3000 people.

I guess Southend, like a lot of old seaside towns, are just to remote for business.

Also, close enough to London to keep property prices up, which tends to make developing business property at viable prices a less attractive option.

It was ok when local office rents was substantially lower than London and "back office" staff were required in large numbers , but that's not the case these days .

 

[manor15]

“Southend-on-Sea Borough Council have clarified that ONS data shows average wages in Southend are at £497, not £413. This figure increase moves Southend up in the national rankings 25 places.

Centre for Cities, who’s data was used in yesterday’s report, combines Southend’s statistics with that of Castle Point and Rochford which therefore made the Borough of Southend’s figure incorrect.


The Council added that the “average wage for those working in Southend is still below the East of England average, so we are working hard to encourage and provide support to sectors that support higher earning”.”

 

[Tinks]

Sadly, Southend is nothing more than a concrete jungle now. The high street is in decline. Multi occupancy buildings are being built everywhere. Traffic and pollution is at its worse and also Southend is one of the highest areas (and above the national average) for the older population and has a high level of Care homes in comparison to other towns.
The council seriously need to think about what they need to do to the town and interestingly are asking people for their views and ideas via their web site.
On the plus side - there is quite a good football team