Business News Round Up (01/06/2023)
Scottish GDP growth outperforms UK in first three months of 2023
Scotland has seen higher GDP growth than the UK as a whole, despite the “extremely challenging circumstances” facing the economy. Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray spoke after statistics published by the Scottish Government revealed the country’s economic output grew by 0.4% in real terms during the first three months of 2023 – compared to 0.1% for the UK. GDP in Scotland is now up by 0.3% on the period January to March last year – with this again higher than the growth of 0.2% across the UK. According to the data, output in the services sector – which makes up just over three-quarters of the economy in Scotland – increased by about 0.2% in the first quarter of 2023. Output in the construction sector was up 0.7%, with the production sector growing by 0.8% over the period. Gray welcomed the figures, but stressed people and businesses are still struggling amid the cost-of-living crisis. He said the statistics “demonstrate the resilience of the Scottish economy against the extremely challenging circumstances faced by countries around the world”, adding that the Scottish Fiscal Commission is now forecasting that Scotland will avoid a recession. However, Gray cautioned: “Enormous pressures remain across both the private and public sectors. The cost-of-living crisis is impacting household and businesses’ ability to spend, which in turn affects the wider economy.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-gdp-growth-outperforms-uk-30119202
Two thirds of Scottish SMEs report skills shortages continue to impact business success
67% of Scotland’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) owners and managers have reported that skills shortages are impacting their business growth and profitability, according to new research by Censuswide, on behalf of The Open University (OU) in Scotland. For businesses with 10-49 employees, this rocketed to 83%. The survey, completed by 200 owners and senior managers of Scottish SMEs, identified people management (25%), finance (24%), digital technologies (22%) and project management (20%) as the top areas in which respondents were experiencing skills shortages. Environmental concerns and their impact on business growth are also front and centre for Scottish SMEs, with 85% of organisations planning to invest in ‘green’ staff training. Priority training areas included developing innovative and sustainable ways of doing things (37%), making their business more sustainable (36%) and renewable energy (32%). The survey also highlighted a lack of awareness among SMEs of the access they have to Scottish Government-funded employee training support. Less than a third of businesses had heard of the Scottish Funding Council Upskilling Fund (31%) and the Part-Time Fee Grant (29%). 32% of businesses surveyed also knew about the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF), which offers SMEs access to £5,000 of free and flexible online training with the OU in Scotland, supported by the Scottish Funding Council. However, more positively, 75% of respondents would be likely to consider accessing funds in the next 12 months.
University of Manchester tops chart for spin-out growth
The University of Manchester has shown the greatest growth among UK universities in the proportions of its spinout populations in the past two years. According to The Royal Academy of Engineering’s annual report Spotlight on Spinouts 2023, this growth can be attributed to The University of Manchester’s rapid increase in the amount of IP-rich research it has helped to commercialise in recent years. Instead of concentrating on universities with the greatest number of spinouts, the report’s highlights universities that have rapidly expanded their spinout populations by tracking activity since 2011. It finds there have been a total of 84 companies spun out from The University of Manchester, including six exits: three have been acquired and three have had Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Of the 84 companies, 39 have received equity investment since 2011 via 105 deals, raising a total of £478m. This is the third edition of an annual report that showcases the state of the UK’s spinout economy. Compiled by Beauhurst, this report offers a comprehensive analysis of the UK spinout landscape.
Soaring costs deter SMEs pursuing green plans
Rising costs of doing business are preventing the UK’s 5.5m small and medium-sized businesses from going green, new research finds. Oxford Economics has found that more than four in ten (42%) SMEs say that the rising cost of doing business means going green has become less important. More than half (54%) also believe that while green issues are important, this cannot be at the expense of running their business. The top three reasons small and medium-sized companies aren’t going green all relate to cost, with a third (32%) blaming the unaffordable costs associated with being an environmentally friendly business. A quarter (26%) feel the lack of government support and grants is the biggest barrier, while nearly a fifth (19%) believe it’s because of a lack of tax incentives. While costs are a significant barrier to going green, SME owners do back measures to become more sustainable. Three-fifths (61%) believe small companies should prioritise reducing their carbon emissions, and over half (53%) predict that their own business will become more environmentally friendly in the next five years. Oxford Economics say SMEs contributed 44% of the UK’s non-household carbon emissions, with an estimated 160m tonnes of greenhouse gas emitted.
https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2023/06/soaring-costs-deter-smes-pursuing-green-plans/