The report, published by left-wing think tank, the Institute of Public Policy (IPP), reported that the government was in denial over the advancing Gross Value Added (GVA) gap between the North and the South of the country.

Sue Stirling, director of the IPP said: “The Government needs to get real on the North-South Divide. At the moment it is in denial.”

Co-author of the report, Michael Johnson told B&E that due to the big money being invested in the South, the North was in real danger of losing its skilled workforce. He said: “You could say that construction in the North struggles to retain the skills and engineers in its region because of the massive construction projects in the South. The new Wembley, Terminal 5 and the Olympics, all of which are lucrative offers draw Northern workers away from the region because the money is so good.”

Janet Crabtree, marketing manager of Kier North Western said she has noticed a lot of movement in the industry of late. “Our regional estimation’s manager, Rob Matthews left recently for a company in the South of the country, but the general consensus seems to be that people will naturally go where the work is.”