Worker productivity is without doubt one of the greatest challenges facing the growth of our economy.
And here in Gloucestershire, the challenge was highlighted by the county council when they launched the 2050 project on how we want to see the county develop in the future.
Apart from the haemorrhaging of young people from Gloucestershire at an alarming rate, the productivity challenge is also stark.
At the time we were told that it was up to 8% behind the national average.
That figure, I am told, has now improved and the guesstimate is now lower at around 6%.
We can argue about exact figures and context but it is still very worrying.
Frankly, there appears to be no simple answer to this productivity puzzle.
That is why the next Business West networking breakfast at the University of Gloucestershire’s new Business & Technology School on Wednesday 10 April (8-10.30am) will attempt to shine a light on the productivity challenge we face.
The key speaker will be Stewart Barnes, managing director of QuoLux - the Gloucestershire leadership and strategic development company.
Stewart is one of the best strategic thinkers I know and he is a director of the University’s new Centre for Innovation and Productivity.
The task of this new centre is to encourage business to close the productivity gap - around 6 percent behind the national average - with the UK now standing at 17 percent behind the average in the G7 countries and a whopping 35 percent behind Germany.
“Like for like, a business in Gloucestershire is almost 40 per cent behind its equivalent in output in Germany”, Stewart tells me.
To book for the Business West networking breakfast on Wednesday April 10 click here.
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