CITY VIEWS: WHEN DO YOU EXPECT THE UK TO START GROWING AGAIN?
ANTONY BERKIN NEGATIVE EQUITY PROTECTION
“I expect we’ll start to see some growth in the fourth quarter of this year. House prices will be a big indicator of how well we’re recovering, but I think it’ll be a while before they bottom out. That said, we won’t recover from government debt for years.”
KENNETH STEVENSON METDIST
“It will be at least another year until we see economic recovery in the UK. Right now, we’re seeing the worst of the downturn. I think we’ll just about have recovered, and then we’ll be hit by the bill for the 2012 Olympics. That said, that could be a good economic driver itself.”
SEAN HALLIDAY iCORE SERVICE MANAGEMENT
“I expect recovery to come later this year. Financial services will recover first, then the rest of the UK. It won’t trickle down to those hardest hit – those in the manufacturing sector – until late 2010, though. A recovery in the housing market could act as a good economic driver.”