Business News Round Up (04/02/2022)
A flicker of hope for Scottish retail footfall
Scottish footfall decreased by 16.2% in January, compared with two years earlier; a 6.6% improvement on December. The latest Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Sensormatic IQ data also showed that shopping centre footfall fell by 36.6% in January across Scotland, down from a decline of 31.9% in December. In January, footfall in Glasgow decreased by 17.6% on a year-on-two-year basis – although again, this was a 4.2% improvement on December. SRC director David Lonsdale said: “Visits to Scotland’s retail destinations finally saw a slight improvement, with January showing the least-worst footfall figures witnessed since the onset of the Covid crisis 22 months ago. “Footfall was down by a sixth on pre-pandemic levels demonstrating there is still a long way to go before any return to normal trading.” He pointed out that the upturn wasn’t felt across all retail destinations though, with shopping centres faring particularly poorly in January. Lonsdale noted that shopping centres are often disproportionally geared towards fashion, which would have felt the impact of public health instructions to shun socialising.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/flicker-hope-scottish-retail-footfall-26129021
Deals market bounces back, with second highest levels in a decade
The North West M&A market experienced the second highest deal volumes in the past decade. According to the Experian M&A Review 2021, a total of 883 transactions, worth a total of £22bn, were concluded. It represents a 23.5% increase on 2020’s 715 transactions, but also a three per cent improvement on the 2019 pre-pandemic figures. The data reveals that small deals were up by 20.6% from the previous year, while the mid-market returned a 15.4% increase. Large and mega deals made a return in 2021, with a 30% and 25% increase, respectively, showing renewed confidence in the market and the funds available for big ticket transactions. Also, the value of large transactions has increased for the North West by 64%, from £5.1bn to £8.3bn. The most popular deal type across the region was acquisitions, which numbered 580 transactions, compared with 422 in 2020. Experian says an interesting point is that there was a 220% increase in the volume of employee buyouts during the year, up from five to a total of 16, the majority of which were in the wholesale and professional services sectors.
UK to invest in 10 ‘space clusters’ to support industry’s growth
Hundreds of thousands of pounds are being invested in Britain’s so-called “space clusters” – areas of the country where the space industry is flourishing. Ten organisations across the UK have been given a boost, including in Cornwall, Scotland, and the West Midlands. The UK Space Agency said the cash would support new and growing companies; build on local expertise; and catalyse investment into the sector, which is now worth £16bn a year to the economy. More than £600,000 will go towards supporting activities that create jobs and growth, it said, including recruiting ‘”pace cluster managers”, to strengthen local space sector leadership groups, and developing new business opportunities. According to the UK Space Agency, each organisation will use the funding to support locally led space sector activities in their region, including business case development and evidence gathering for local authorities and economic development bodies.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/uk-invest-10-space-clusters-22970017
Nine in 10 tradespeople forced to delay projects due to ongoing supplies shortage
Ongoing supplies shortage costing UK tradespeople over £3.5bn in lost earnings with the vast majority forced to delay projects or turn down work. Nine in 10 (87%) tradespeople are being forced to delay projects due to the ongoing supplies shortage, a new report reveals. The study by small business insurance provider Simply Business unveils the devastating impact of the supplies shortage, with over a quarter (27%) of tradespeople saying they’ve had no choice but to delay projects by a minimum of four-eight weeks. Nearly one in five (16%) had had to delay projects by eight-12 weeks, and a further one in six (13%) have had to delay projects by three months or more. The supplies shortage, caused by a damaging combination of unprecedented demand, tighter restrictions on imports after Brexit, and rising costs of materials, has left tradespeople across the country facing a staggering £3.5bn loss. Costs are being passed down to the tradespeople and then ultimately the consumer.