A REPORT has said “radical change” will be needed if Dorset’s economy is to grow in strength compared with the rest of the country.

The Bournemouth University analysis says the local economy “stuttered” at the end of 2015 and saw a “mixed performance” at the start of this year.

Nigel Jump, professor in regional economic development, wrote that the national economy had “lost momentum” in the face of “severe global uncertainties”.

He added: “Against this background, the local economy is struggling to move forward, with more uncertainty dampening hiring and investment intentions. Dorset’s economy is still expanding but the pace of recovery may be moderating.”

The Regional Economic Development Business Intelligence Report said the county’s gross value added (GVA), based on income, was £16.2billion – about the same size as Wiltshire’s and half the size of the Devon/Somerset or Solent/Hampshire areas.

Bournemouth and Poole had a GVA per head of £23,254, 5.5 per cent below the national average, while Dorset’s was £19,719, or 19.9 per cent below average.

The report said this was “fairly typical” of similar areas but added that “more worryingly”, the comparative readings had eroded since the recession of 2008-09.

Professor Jump said Dorset was holding on to its relative status, but added: “Without radical change, this pattern will persist. Radical change would require a sound, strategic vision for growth of, and development in the Dorset economy beyond simplistic priority sector or ‘cluster’ models of growth.

“Such a vision should embrace the need to raise private sector productivity, to increase engagement with ‘new’ markets and technologies, and to build the quality of the environmental and human capital base across Dorset,” he wrote.

He also said the local economy “stuttered through the end of 2015 and entered 2016 with a mixed performance”.

He added: “Around Christmas and New Year, consumer spending was good, but not great.”

His report said global risks to the economy had increased, adding: “After the deep recession of 2008/09, the recovery has been patchy and weak. Because structural imbalances have not been addressed, the economy is highly vulnerable to a broad loss of confidence.”