Cebr predicts 11% growth in ad and MR spend to 2016

Cebr says that turnover will rise from £27bn to £30.1bn by 2016. It pegs 2011 growth at 1.2%, falling to 0.8% next year and then up by a rate of between 2% and 3% for the following years.

The growth is part of a wider increase in business services spending, which will climb from £390bn in 2011 to £436bn in 2016, although Cebr warned that an economic collapse in the Euro area could slash annual spending by 1.3% and cause 70,000 job losses.

Douglas McWilliams, Cebr chief executive, said: “B2B is one of the UK’s most important sectors and our forecasts make it out to be the star performer of the UK economy over the next five years. Because the sector is so diverse, its importance is often not fully recognised. This is probably the most important sector for UK economic growth in the near term and its ambitions should be facilitated.”