But a combination of the Olympics, broader infrastructure spending on projects like Crossrail and the region’s resilience in creating new jobs should mean the threat of ‘double-dip’ recession is averted. As report commissioned by Thames Gateway, based on the experiences of previous summer of and winter Olympic host cities, estimates the London games will add an extra 0.5 per cent to the UK’s GDP.
The £1.5bn Westfield shopping centre in Stratford open up a large amount of commercial property for sale in the South East in 2011 as does the London Gateway, another £1.5bn project, creating a 21st century deep sea container port and Europe’s largest logistics park. These combined with the coalition government’s commitment to build 240,000 homes a year nationally by 2016 will be positive drivers for many sectors of the region’s economy, including consumer spending.
One message that the economy as a whole now understands in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 is the importance of financial services – much of it centred in Canary Wharf. The continued rebuilding of the banking sector, which could see the sell-off by the Government of part or all of the stakes in RBS and Lloyds in 2011, will be the true underpin to the region’s sustained recovery.
