ABSTRACT
Since the 1930s the United Kingdom has experienced difficulties associated with economic restructuring. This has manifested itself in the inability of traditional manufacturing industry to compete, together with increased rates of unemployment among particular sectors of the population. Although new employment opportunities have emerged in the service sector, the demands in terms of skills, premises and location are markedly different. Physically and economically this restructuring has resulted in vacant and under-used docks and factory premises, an outdated infrastructural base unable to meet the needs of modern enterprise and a general loss of confidence in urban areas by potential investors. Consequently, the traditional centres of industry and employment in the United Kingdom found themselves in the difficult position of requiring major investment to adapt premises and provide the necessary infrastructure needed by modern industry. For the most part, the private sector has found this scale of investment difficult to finance.
