I TRAVELLED to Brunei recently on university business.

Brunei is a small but wealthy state on the northern side of Borneo.

The economy has been successfully driven by plentiful oil and gas reserves in recent years, which account for 90 per cent of revenue generated for the country.

Five years ago Brunei could have been considered as debt free, but now national debt to GDP runs at around 2.5per cent, compared with the UK at around 90 per cent in 2013. With a population of only around 400,000 people the size of the whole country is similar only to a UK city.

Warrington with around 200,000 people has a local economy which is not dependent upon a single source such as oil. While Brunei will suffer a little from the current low global oil prices the mixed industries of Warrington including energy, logistics, education, health and financial and professional services do provide some insurance from downturns in specific sectors.

It is perhaps the strength of this mix which has supported Warrington in being one of the top performing ‘cities’ in the UK across a range of measures such as employment, business start-up and business growth.

There are many baskets for Warrington’s eggs.

  •  LAWRENCE Bellamy is associate dean at the University of Chester's Padgate campus and writes a regular column for business.