18th July 2008 - Article by Nottingham Evening Post

The former CBI boss toured technology businesses at the bioscience centre yesterday.
He insisted its success was one of the key reasons the UK economy should steer clear of recession.
Lord Jones has just finished his first year as an international trade envoy, having visited 25 countries and all
parts of the UK.

He started his second year in the job by touring BioCity and then lunching with some of the major
international businesses that have opened up in the East Midlands.

Lord Jones said BioCity, which has gone from nothing to 60 companies employing nearly 550 people in the
space of five years, was an "on-the-money" example of a central part of the 21st-Century global economy.
He said: "If you look at currency of power in the 21st Century it is no longer the bullet and sheer, economic
might. Most countries have worked out how to deal with them, and the US is finding the bullet is not the
answer in some of the nastiest parts of the world.

"The real currency is the development and exploitation of knowledge and for any country that wants to be at
the top table with the US, if they are not on the button in developing and exploiting knowledge they will fail.
"Here today in Nottingham we have an absolutely fabulous example of the exploitation and development of
knowledge. BioCity has become one of the top centres of its kind in the UK in the space of only five years."
Lord Jones said BioCity had become second only to Cambridge in its field because of facilities gifted by
BASF, founding fathers committed to its success, long-term links with high-achieving universities, and
surroundings that provided a good place to live.

The growth of the knowledge economy and export-led East Midlands businesses was also a reason why the
UK was likely to avoid recession, he said. "When you have had ten years of strong growth and there is a
sudden drop it is going to feel like recession," he admitted.

"But I was in the Midlands in the '81 and '91 recessions and I can tell you now this is not a recession
because they are not taking the roofs off factories.

"There are two reasons why we're not going to have a recession. In '81 and '91, if Mrs Bloggs decided not to
buy a washing machine then someone at a factory in the UK would lose their job. That would have a knockon
effect.

"Today, if they make the same decision it will have an impact on the retailer, but it will be someone in a
factory somewhere like China that loses their job. You don't have the knock-on effect here because the
economy has diversified.

"The second point is that if you have some skills and you lose your job because of a downturn there is
probably another job for you down the road.

"It might not be as well-paid and it might be somewhere else but the shortage of skilled people in this
country means there will be another job."

Lord Jones said the economy was likely to start growing again sometime next year because of the UK's links
with the US, which has now hit the bottom and is likely to start climbing again.

He added: "The East Midlands is the most successful manufacturing region in Britain - and that's coming
from a Brummie! You have got some amazing enterprises doing business around the world.

"In the knowledge economy, outside the South East you are number one in Britain. For bioscience and
research-based industry, Cambridge is number one and Nottingham is number two. You couldn't have said
that ten years ago."