Economy of Sheffield

However, due to increasing competition from imports, it has seen a decline in heavy engineering industries since the 1960s, which has forced the sector to streamline its operations and lay off the majority of the local employment.

Private fee-paying international students are also a major source (£120 million per year) of income to the local economy through the universities.

The head of this company (the Master Cutler) is held in regard equal to the city's lord mayor and it has powers over the trademarking of steel with the Sheffield area.

While iron and steel have always been the main industries of Sheffield, coal mining has been a major feature of the outlying areas, and the Palace of Westminster in London was built using limestone and paving from quarries in the nearby villages of Anston and Green Moor.

It is a site of historical and industrial importance, contributing to Sheffield's reputation for manufacturing high-quality, precision steel goods, though actually it is located within the boundaries of neighbouring Barnsley.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added (GVA) of Sheffield at current basic prices published Archived 16 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine (pp.

The 2004 Barclays Bank Financial Planning study[5] revealed that, in 2003, the Sheffield district of Hallam was the highest ranking area outside London for overall wealth, the proportion of people earning over £60,000 a year standing at almost 12%.

A survey by Knight Frank[6] revealed that Sheffield was the fastest growing city outside London for office and residential space and rents during the second half of 2004.

This site competes strongly with the traditional way of finding employment in Sheffield which is through the local newspaper whose main vacancies day is Thursday.