Philippa Batting is MD of Buckinghamshire Business First - an organisation dedicated to creating a dynamic business environment in the county.

Here she tells of developments in the business world which could give a boost to the county’s businesses in the coming months.

As the UK Government makes a greater investment in cities, especially in the North of England, Buckinghamshire continues to deliver positive growth figures without the same weighty support.

There is no question that a North-South divide exists when it comes to business growth, jobs growth and overall economic performance, something that George Osborne is trying to rectify with his pledge to create a ‘Northern Powerhouse’. This investment in Northern cities does mean there is less money to invest in the South despite the significant return guaranteed to government coffers.

Buckinghamshire’s economic performance has been very strong in recent years, as the County’s economy first processed, and then recovered from, the recession of 2008. Since 2009, employment in Buckinghamshire has risen 7.4%, the number of new jobs in the market is up by 6.3%, and GVA has risen by over £500m.

While those in Whitehall look North, those with Buckinghamshire’s future at heart continue to fight our corner. Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (BTVLEP) has secured a further £8.8m from government as part of our Local Growth Deal. This is in addition to the £44.2m already secured to increase prosperity and growth in the county.

The funding that has been secured by Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP has been earmarked for projects to provide access to finance to SMEs, extending superfast broadband across Buckinghamshire to areas of high business population, improving rail links between Marlow and Maidenhead, and providing business incubation and innovation centres for SMEs and start-ups.

While investment in cities is the name of the government’s game, how long can those holding the purse-strings ignore the fact that we continue to perform better than most despite being left at the shallow end of the funding pool?

There are countless examples of the contribution Buckinghamshire makes to the Exchequer. For instance, excluding London, South Bucks and Chiltern rank second and third in highest income tax paid per resident in Britain. In total, Bucks residents paid £2.57bn in income tax in 2011/12, the second highest of any county council area. Bucks also has a high rate of new firms that go on to turnover £1m or more within their first five years of trading.

Buckinghamshire is home to the UK’s first non-city Growth Hub, Buckinghamshire Business First, so we are well-placed to understand just what could be achieved with a dedicated ‘Buckinghamshire Powerhouse’ with full support from central government.

Do you think that central government should invest more into Buckinghamshire? Let me know your thoughts at Philippa@bbf.uk.com.