UK must shore up foundations of recovery, say economists "More must be done to shore up the foundations of this recovery if it is to be a lasting one," said John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce. Unless we do much better on the three 'T's - training, transport infrastructure and trade support - our aspirations for investment at home and success around the globe cannot be achieved. Ross Walker, chief UK economist at RBS, underscored this message. "In the near-term, unbalanced growth is better than no growth, but if the recovery is to be sustained over the medium-term growth will need to broaden," he said. Britain's services sector, which powers more than three-quarters of the UK economy, is now 1.3pc larger than it was in the first quarter of 2008, just before the economy collapsed, while overall output remains 1.3pc below its pre-recession peak. Growth in manufacturing has also picked up, though output is still 8.2pc below pre-recession levels, while construction output is down 11.2pc. Michael Saunders, chief UK economist at Citigroup, remained bullish about Britain's growth prospects. Economists currently expect the UK to grow 2.6pc this year, but Mr Saunders said this seemed "far too low given that growth is already at 2.8pc YoY and business surveys remain solid." Mr Saunders said he expected growth of 3.3pc this year. [We] suspect risks may lie even to the upside. In particular, business investment might recover more strongly than we allow, while the ONS may well (as often happens) revise GDP growth higher.