London is leading the recovery – but is the rest of the UK catching up?
London has created 10 times more private sector jobs than any other city in the UK, according to research conducted by the Centre for Cities.
The Cities Outlook report is an economic index of the 64 largest towns and cities in the UK, with this year's adopting a special focus on London.
Cities Outlook 2014 finds the capital is leading the economic recovery, and its economic success continues to attract workers from across the country.
The research shows that London now accounts for 19 per cent of the UK's jobs, 21 per cent of businesses and 25 per cent of economic output.
Close to a third of those aged between 22 and 30 who have moved cities between 2009 and 2012 headed for London. However, contrary to popular perceptions, London's population over recent years has actually suffered a decline. Between 2009 and 2012, 933,000 people left the capital and only 775,000 moved in.
The employment effects of the world's financial centre are being felt not only in the south-east but across the country, with London emerging as the biggest employer in other UK cities. One in five private sector jobs in Crawley and York are employed by a London-based business.
Paul Swinney, senior economist at the Centre for Cities, said:
It's one of the best performing cities in the world and from a national perspective we need to continue supporting the growth of London.
The bigger issue is the underperformance of our next largest cities, such as Sheffield and Manchester.
The prominent role of London in the UK economy has recently come under attack, with business secretary Vince Cable telling the Today programme in December "London is becoming a kind of giant suction machine, draining the life out of the rest of the country."
However, the report also drew attention to the fact that many of Britain's largest cities are also showing growth, with Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds delivering large numbers of private sector jobs.
Indeed the areas of Greater Manchester and Greater Leeds both added more to the UK's economy than the whole of Wales.
To further replicate the success seen in London the Centre for Cities urged a major devolution of powers and funding to UK cities.