The UK economy grew at a stronger than expected rate in March.
The economy was expected to pick up by 1.3% but actually grew by 2.1%. For the first three months of 2021, the economy has fallen by 1.5%.
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Despite a difficult start to this year, economic growth in March is a promising sign of things to come.”
“As we cautiously reopen the economy, I will continue to take all the steps necessary to support our recovery.”
Meanwhile, Ian Warwick, Managing Partner at Deepbridge Capital, also commented on the latest GDP figures. He said: “Today’s monthly GDP estimate reveals the fastest monthly growth since August 2020 and is further evidence that the economy is moving in the right direction at a significant pace.”
“As we focus on economic recovery, it remains critically important that scale-up businesses, particularly in high-growth sectors such as digital technologies and life sciences are supported; as they will be at the very heart of economic growth as we create an economy fit for the twenty-first century.”
“Government initiatives such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) have never been more important for helping entrepreneurs and innovators source the funding they require, whilst also offering private investors with tax incentives to develop UK-supporting private equity portfolios. With our EIS funds reaching record levels of funding in 2020/21 it is evident that there is considerable demand from investors and financial advisers alike to invest in early-stage UK companies which we believe will be at the forefront of our economic recovery.”