The Key Features of the Main Britain’s Economic Sectors

Production or manufacturing industry. Manufacturing, one of the main sectors of the British economy deals with making finished goods from raw materials. It is a broad category of output covering production of textiles, wood and metal products, paper, plastics, rubber, vehicles, machinery and equipment, and a host,of other produced goods. Manufacturing includes electronics, aerospace, chemical, plastics, paper and printing industries.

To start with the British manufacturing industry it is necessary to emphasize the following: while the decrease in agriculture is a long standing trend, the fall in the share of manufacturing industry is the major economic problem. This phenomenon is common to all developed countries. Though, thanks to the increasing use of intensive methods and modern technologies Great Britain remains one of the most highly industrialized countries of the world.

In the age of modern technology, Britain has made important advances in electronic s and telecommunication s equipment, aircraft and aircraft engines, radio isotopes and new medicines.

Electronic data processing equipmentis a growing industry. Britain has originated a lot of advanced technologies in microelectronics. The main electronic consumer goods produced are television sets with an increasing proportion of widescreen and digital sets, electronic control equipment.

The aerospace industry, the third largest in the world, exports over 70% of its production. It produces civil as well as military aircraft, satellites, space systems, guided weaponsand components.

Over the last decades growth has been most notable in chemical and electrical, electronic and instrument engineering. Being the fifth largest in Western Europe, the chemical industry is developing intensively and exports nearly 50% of its output. It includes key industrial materials such as plastics and synthetic rubber, and other products such as man-made fibers, soap and detergents, cosmetics, adhesives, dyes and links, and ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry. The production of iron and steel remains important part of the industrial economy. The major areas of steel production are concentrated in south Wales and northern England.

Service industries. After the Second World War Britain had its longest period of uninterrupted economic growth, steadily increasing its importance as a world financial state and has already completed its transformation into a modern service economy.

Services have experienced the fastest growth in recent years. They account for the largest proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) and employ almost 77% of the working population.

The service industries include financial, banking, retailing, wholesaling, tourism, business services, transport, insurance, investment, advertising, public relations, market research, education, administrative and government, professional services. Financial services are an important source of employment and overseas earnings.

The Bank of England, as the central bank, was nationalized in 1946 and is the bank of issue in England and Wales. It is responsible for the monetary policy of the country and also manages the country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves.

Great Britain has 17 major commercial banks with more than 17.000 domestic and overseas branches. Most of which are offices of the largest banks: HSBC (the Hong Kong and Shan`ghai Banking Corporation Limited, London), Royal Bank of Scotland (Edinburgh), Barclays Bank (London), Lloyds TSB (the Trustee Savings Bank, London). There is also a government-run savings bank called National Savings and Investments.

Some banking services are provided by the postal system, savings banks, and building societies.

The pound sterling (&1) is the basic unit of currencyin Britain. The European Union established the euro as its unit of currency, and other EU members made the transition to the euro between 1990 and 2002. However, the British government decided not to adopt the euro and to keep the pound as its currency.

Britain is one of the world’s foremost travel destinations and tourism is an essential part of Britain’s income. It employs about 1.5 million (7%) of the workforce and contributes about 3.5% to the GDP. The British Tourist Authority, supported by the government, promotes tourism in Britain and maintains hundreds of Tourist Information Centers to assist visitors.

Britain has historically been an innovator and world leader in many forms of transportation, from shipping to rail systems and aviation. Most of Britain’s roads are motorways. But the network of motorways is inadequate for the volume of traffic and there are terrible congestion problems, especially in and around London.

London’s main airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, are among the world’s busiest centers for international travel. Heathrow itself handles more than 67 million passengers a year. There are nearly 150 other licensed civil airfields in Britain.

A railway tunnel beneath the English Channel was completed in 1993, connecting England and the European continent. The main Channel Tunnel, which is 50.4 km (32 mi) long, runs from Folkestone, England, to Calais, France. Trains carry both passengers and freight through the tunnel. The trip through the tunnel takes about 35 minutes.

London Underground operates more than 400 km of railway. Known as the tube, the system serves 275 stations, with more than 500 trains running during peak periods. The underground provides reliable public transportation for an impressive number of commuters across a larger metropolitan area.

Glasgow, Liverpool, Tyne and Wear, Manchester, and Sheffield have their own urban rail system.

The construction industry of the United Kingdom contributed gross domestic product of £64,747 million to the UK economy. The industry employed around 2.2 million people in the fourth quarter of 2009.There were around 194,000 construction firms in Great Britain. The construction industry in Great Britain received total orders of around £18.7 billion from the private sector and £15.1 billion from the public sector. While manufacturing in the United Kingdom shrank as a proportion of the economy replaced by the service sector, construction remained relatively flat at about 6% of the economy.

As of 2012, the largest construction project in the UK is Crossrail. Due to open in 2018, it will be a new railway line running east to west through London and into the surrounding counties with a branch to Heathrow Airport. The main feature of the project is construction of 42 km (26 mi) of new tunnels connecting stations in central London. It is also Europe's biggest construction project with a £15 billion projected cost.

Prospective major construction projects include either expansion of London Heathrow Airport or expansion of Gatwick Airport, construction of the High Speed 2 rail line between London and the West Midlands, and construction of the Crossrail 2 rail line in London.

Words and phrases to be remembered:

a host – велика кількість;

a long-standing trend – довготривала тенденція;

guided-weapons – самокерована зброя;

modern service economy – сучасна економіка, яка ґрунтується на сфері послуг;

the postal system – система поштових переказів;

building societies – житлово-будівельні товариства, фінансові установи, які залучають інвестиції для подальшого кредитування житлового будівництва;

the British Tourist Authority – Департамент зі справ туризму Великої Британії;

congestion problems – проблеми заторів дорожнього руху;

urban rail system – залізнична система приміського сполучення.

VOCABULARY PRECTICE

I. A) Find in the text English equivalents for the following word combinations.

B) Write your own sentences using them.

Вироби з дерева та металу; головна економічна проблема; у вік сучасних технологій; нові медичні препарати/ліки; широкоекранні та цифрові телевізори; здійснити перехід на євро; безперервне економічне зростання; завершити перехід до сучасної економіки, яка ґрунтується на сфері послуг; важливе джерело зайнятості; грошова політика; інтенсивно розвиватися; вирішити не приймати євро; не відповідати вимогам інтенсивності руху; забезпечувати надійним громадським транспортом

II. A) Give Ukrainian equivalents for the following word combinations.

B) Make up and play out a dialogue with another student using the English word combinations.

A broad category of output; it is necessary to emphasize; the increasing use of intensive methods; the main electronic consumer goods produced; growth has been most notable; services have experienced the fastest growth; foreign exchange and gold reserves; to established the euro as its unit of currency; world’s foremost travel destinations; to assist visitors; from shipping to rail systems and aviation; licensed civil airfields; an impressive number of commuters; a larger metropolitan area