The south-west has been ranked the best place to work in a new employment index.

According to insurance business Phoenix Group, which has ranked regions in terms of employees’ experiences of “fulfilling, financially rewarding, long-term employment”, the south-west tops the list because of high job satisfaction and financial security.

The region, home to cities including Bath, Bristol and Exeter, also achieved mid-to-high scores for employment confidence and economic activity levels.

London ranked top for financial security and economic activity, but scored joint third for job satisfaction. It also ranked lower for confidence in long-term employment, which reduced the capital’s overall ranking to second place.

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The north-west came third in Phoenix’s index, which polled 6,000 working UK adults across 13 metrics alongside data from the Office for National Statistics.

The company said the data showed evidence of a north-south divide in terms of economic activity levels – on this metric London ranked first, followed by the south-east. Yorkshire, Wales and the north-east ranked lowest.

On other metrics, regions were less clear cut in terms of employment strengths and differences, Phoenix said.

Scotland ranked highest for confidence in long-term employment, and also scored well for people’s confidence that they will stay in work until retirement (54%). Almost nine in 10 Scots felt confident they would remain in work until the age of 60, and 57% were confident they would work until 70.

By contrast, only 43% of Londoners were confident that they could stay in work until age 70 – the lowest among all regions – while 74% believed they could remain in work until age 60.

However, London topped all metrics for financial security, with 31% saying they lived comfortably on their present income. The north-east was joint-first in this category.

This echoes recent research from the Centre for Cities, which found that average annual wages in London are almost £20,000 higher than the lowest-paid parts of the UK.

London also scored highest for career progression opportunities, with 62% saying they were happy with their potential.

Catherine Foot, director of Phoenix Insights, said: “Good quality, satisfying jobs matter to people of all ages, and better employment opportunities across the country are vital to drive the economic growth our country sorely needs. To do this we need better provision and access to public employment support services.

“Crucially, we must also ensure local areas have greater powers to design and target the employment and skills support that people need, working closely with local employers, health and housing providers. Otherwise, we risk using top-down solutions that don’t meet the range of needs across the UK.”

Mike Ambery, retirement savings director at Phoenix company Standard Life, said more consistent access to fulfilling work across the country would ensure all people can save for retirement.

He said: “Making sure people across the UK have access to good, fulfilling work that they can remain in as long as they need, or want, is vital to tackling our widespread pension under-saving crisis, helping people earn and save for longer.

“Government and businesses must ensure that action to keep people in work is targeted at a regional and local level, to help boost people’s ability to save wherever they live in the UK.”

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