Predicting economic trends in these uncertain times is no easy task, but there are some trends that we think are worth sharing.
Obviously, the simplest recipe for success is to do what you love. But what if you don’t know what that is? To make sure you have all the information you need we have analysed the latest research from BNP Paribas Market Leaders and from the Office of National Statistics to identify the business sectors set to boom in the coming years.
Who else was shocked with 4th place?!
5) Energy
Contributing £26 billion to Britain’s economy and rising, energy is a buoyant sector on all fronts.
However, the most significant growth is in green energy. By the end of 2020, the government aims for 15% of all energy consumption to stem from renewable resources, which has spurred significant investment into UK-based sustainable energy companies.
As a result, it’s estimated that the UK’s renewables industry could support up to 400,000 jobs by the end of this year.
“It’s never been more exciting to work in the energy sector,” says Phil Foster, CEO of Love Energy Savings. “There are more renewable energy businesses than ever before, which is creating a highly competitive market and driving down the costs to businesses as a result.
“New technologies are a really promising area, too. We recently secured a £25 million investment from LDC (part of the Lloyds Banking Group), which we have invested back into the business with a focus on our proprietary technology, which has generated a host of new technical roles
“The more innovative energy companies become, the more jobs there will be, and the more the energy industry will grow as a result.”
4) Automotive manufacturing sector
Recent news that the automotive industry is expecting a resurgence is welcome with all the recent uncertainty in the industry. Economists are now predicting that the industry will begin to prosper again over the next two years, achieving growth of 3% by 2021.
Petro heads need not apply though as this REVolution will be plugged in. And 2020 is set to be a historic year as the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in British showrooms is set to double and the number of EVs on the road is expected to break the 100,000 mark.
It’s not just the obvious industries (manufacturing, mechanics and so on) that will need staff; all these plug-in vehicles will need infrastructure to support them. Technicians, designers, project managers, engineers, analysts…This industry will need an army of talent to realise our carbon-cutting potential and ensure a smooth transition to cleaner roads.
3) Construction
For the second year in a row, construction makes our list for the fastest growing sectors with 12,000 new enterprises registered to HMRC between 2018-19. In contrast to 2018 however, where the largest increases were in non-housing repair, last year’s growth came in the domestic market.
After 3 years of uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the impact of COVID-19 still being felt, many investors may be hesitant as the UK housing market is not at its most stable.
However, large public sector contracts and the continued emphasis on renewable investment, like the electric vehicle charging point initiative are likely to keep the sector growing.
2) Communications
Communications encompass information technology and computer programming. Inventors and designers like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have become global leaders and Apple, Facebook and Amazon are now some of the world’s largest companies.
Fortunately, the public and private sector have been working together in recent years to make the UK an attractive place for start-ups and their staff to prosper and in 2019 alone 43,765 tech start-ups made the leap from idea to implementation.
If anything this sector is growing too fast with auditors, KPMG and IT outsourcers, Harvey Nash finding that 65% of 3000 technology leaders recently surveyed cited hiring challenges as a boundary to productivity.
Even better, with a lot of focus on remote working and the potential of restrictions related to the pandemic, many communications businesses are isolated from some of the negative economic downwards trends predicted over the coming years.
What does all this mean for you? 8% predicted growth for the next 5 years and a fast hiring rate to boot.
1) The Sciences
It’s fair to say that we face some pretty serious challenges in the coming decade.
Alongside our efforts to combat the pandemic there are broader issues to contend with: over-population, depletion of natural resources and agricultural challenges and climate change are all concerns.
The UK, along with most governments, is acknowledging many of the problems we face and is taking some action to combat them, such as trying to tackle the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
It is no surprise that the UK’s scientific sector has for grown for 3 consecutive years in terms of new businesses and is predicted to more than double in size in the next 20 years. We anticipate continued growth in renewable technologies, pharmaceuticals and efforts to address environmental impacts of technology.
If you have aspirations to enter this field be prepared for some healthy competition, as inspirational activists like Greta Thunberg have inspired a whole generation of would-be scientists eager to contribute to the next scientific breakthrough.
Climate change alone is likely to be a generational issue and as the UK voted unanimously to legislate for net-zero emissions by 2050, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to make a difference.