Which sectors will survive the downturn?

Which industry sectors are best placed to withstand the recession? Three factors should help you sort the wheat from the chaff: cyclicality, current financial strength and growth potential. Tim Bennett explains.

Which industry sectors are best placed to withstand the recession? Accountancy group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has taken a look at how vulnerable 15 major British business sectors are to the downturn. The group's head of macroeconomics, John Hawksworth, looked at three main features: cyclicality, current financial strength and growth potential. So which sectors should stay strong and which should you avoid?

1. Cyclicality

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Tim graduated with a history degree from Cambridge University in 1989 and, after a year of travelling, joined the financial services firm Ernst and Young in 1990, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1994.

He then moved into financial markets training, designing and running a variety of courses at graduate level and beyond for a range of organisations including the Securities and Investment Institute and UBS. He joined MoneyWeek in 2007.