Medium-sized cities like Exeter, Ipswich and Norwich are important 'nodes' within the national economy and should work with each other and larger neighbours to drive economic recovery across the UK, claims a new report from The Work Foundation.

Commissioned jointly by the three cities, the report, Recession, Recovery and Medium-sized Cities, shows how the recession has played out differently in the 49 English medium-sized cities, according to differing levels of workforce skills and industrial profiles. Focusing on the actions being undertaken in these cities to respond to the recession, it shows how medium-sized cities are taking decisive action to support struggling businesses, the newly unemployed and young people trying to find work. It also reveals how these cities can contribute to economic recovery.

Economic growth over the past decade has largely been concentrated in the UK's largest cities, and this looks set to continue. Among medium-sized cities, the picture is more uneven: many accounted for a smaller share of regional productivity (Gross Value Added*) in 2006 than in 1995. Nonetheless, over the same period of time, regional employment in the private-sector knowledge-intensive services (such as business and high-tech services) that are set to expand and drive growth over the next decade has grown in the majority of medium-sized cities. This creates key opportunities for such cities in the upturn.

Naomi Clayton, report author and researcher from the Ideopolis Programme at The Work Foundation said, "Medium-sized cities are responding well to the challenges created by the recession and are undertaking important local initiatives to attract business, boost skills and promote regeneration and recovery. Over the next decade, it will be private-sector knowledge-intensive services that create the majority of new jobs and generate the highest productivity gains. Medium-sized cities are, therefore, well positioned to play a key role, working with each other and with their larger neighbours in driving regional and national recovery."

The report's four recommendations show how medium-sized cities can help drive the recovery:

• Through concerted investment in economic development and regeneration, working closely with neighbouring large cities (where possible), with other medium-sized cities and with their surrounding sub-regions to maximise competitiveness
• By developing strong civic leadership across private, public and third sectors, working towards a clear long-term vision of sustainable economic success that takes account of its distinctive assets, such as universities, industrial composition and quality of place
• Investing to increase workforce skills and to stimulate local employer demand for higher levels of skills
• By creating an economic development strategy that responds to the changes in the economy and seeks to attract and grow private-sector knowledge-intensive services firms, jobs and individuals, as well as develop sectors such as retail, leisure and tourism to provide high-quality employment for those at all skills levels

Recession, Recovery and Medium-sized Cities is available at www.theworkfoundation.com

* Gross Value Added (GVA) measures the contribution to a local, regional or national economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in that area. It is used in the estimation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a key indicator of the state of the whole economy.

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Despite the present economic picture, there is good news for some parts of the UK, which look set to grow increasingly popular as relocation destinations. In the first of a series of articles, we take an overview of the current situation - with a look at the factors that influence decision-makers.

Predicting relocation hotspots is particularly difficult in the current climate. However, those patterns that have already evolved give us some idea of where regional growth is likely to occur. You would imagine the clustering of relocation companies and destination service providers would give a good indication of where the majority of relocations are centred. However, the positioning of relocation management companies (RMCs) is probably historic. Over the years, companies have merged, been taken over and disappeared, and new players have entered the scene. Global influences and technology mean that relocation companies don't necessarily have to be at the heart of their major moves, but infrastructures such as roads, railways and airports are still vital for communication, and their positioning reflects where clusters of large corporates are based.