West Country on road to recovery

A TRIUMPHANT bounceback from the disasters of foot-and-mouth and the slump in tourism has made the South-West the best regional economy, a nationwide survey will show this week.

Defying national trends, West Country manufacturers have managed to increase sales and orders - and take on more workers. 'It is amazing when you consider what they have been through down there,' said an insider at the British Chambers of Commerce, 'but there is no doubt about it, the South-West is the star performer.'

The North-East - coincidentally another region hard-hit by last year's foot-and-mouth epidemic - is also believed to have put in a strong showing, while the weakest regions were the North-West and Yorkshire-Humberside.

Nationally, the BCC survey for the last three months of 2001 will say that the manufacturing industry is in 'its darkest hours', with exports shrinking under the pressures of a strong pound and depressed demand in key markets, chiefly the US and the eurozone.

Also, the service sector, until now Britain's economic tower of strength, is faltering. 'Now the wider economy is starting to be dragged into the doom and gloom,' the BCC source explained.

This reflects disappointing performances from London, the South-East and East Anglia. But in the South-West, both manufacturing and service businesses expanded their payrolls.