Business News Round Up (04/04/2023)
Empty offices at highest in seven years
Scotland’s office vacancy rate has risen to 10.3%, the highest level in seven years, as occupiers continue to reassess their space needs, according to new research. The amount of unoccupied office space across the country now stands at 10.9 million sq ft, up from 9.2m a year ago and 7.2m in March 2020. The vacancy rate when the COVID-19 pandemic struck was 6.9%, says CoStar Group, the provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics. In the 12 months to March 2023, tenants released 1.3m sq ft back on to the market, while developers delivered around 400,000 sq ft of new offices. Since the pandemic began, net absorption of office space across Scotland – a measure of demand that counts office space vacated as well as occupied – has been negative by 2.7m sq ft. Grant Lonsdale, CoStar Group’s director of market analytics in Glasgow commented: “While the headline figures make for a sobering read, our data shows a mixed picture by building grade, age and location. Broadly speaking, firms are gravitating towards the newest and best offices, whether they are based in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Stirling or elsewhere. Demand for the highest-quality 5 Star-rated buildings as well as those built in the last decade remains positive. However, we are seeing the opposite in lower-rated buildings from previous development cycles.
https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2023/04/empty-offices-at-highest-in-seven-years/
British Businesses set to benefit from £10 billion boost to UK Export Finance support
UK Export Finance has been granted an extra £10 billion of capacity to drive more UK exports, raising its maximum exposure limit from £50 billion to £60 billion. The additional capacity will ensure the export credit agency’s continued ability to support UK exporters and to deliver on its mission: to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer. In 2021-22, UKEF provided £7.4 billion in financing to exporters of all sizes, which supported up to 72,000 UK jobs. The increased capacity will help UKEF continue to deliver on the government’s priorities, supporting economic growth and jobs in communities across the UK. UK Export Finance is committed to increasing its support in clean growth and climate adaptation. This new capacity will help build on the £7 billion of support UKEF has provided for sustainable projects since 2019, as it focuses on long-term, sustainable economic growth.
£15 million investment fund for Scottish tech innovation unveiled
A £15m venture capital fund is to launch in Scotland to focus on supporting tech innovation with the capability to change the world including climate action; health and wellbeing; and social mobility.Raising Partners Ventures (RPV) – led by investment expert Helena Di Biase – has been set up in response to a ‘chronic’ lack of early-stage investment opportunities outside of London, with 86% of UK VC funds based in the capital and south of England. The Glasgow-based fund – from the team behind investment advisory firm Raising Partners – will initially make investments of £300,000 in 24 pre-seed and seed stage companies, with at least 65% going to start-ups based in Scotland. It’s expected the fund will be ready to deploy its first capital in 2024. Almost half of the fund will also be reserved for follow-on investments to ensure companies remain sufficiently capitalised in the early stages. The RPV team will work collaboratively with the start-up and investment community in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and beyond to help grow Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. They will focus on sectors with the greatest potential to impact society in the next 10 years, including sustainable production and consumption; sustainable cities; climate action, health and wellbeing; social mobility; and the future of work.
Better SME connectivity could contribute more than £5bn a year to local communities
Research from technology provider Three Business has highlighted digital connectivity as a vital enabler for doing business and a key driver for growth, with improvements in connectivity able to not only support individual firms, but also the areas in which they are based. The research was commissioned by Three UK and undertaken by Censuswide and Development Economics. Censuswide surveyed more than 500 senior decision-makers in SME businesses based in the UK – specifically in key regions of Birmingham – to gauge their opinions on usage, understanding, time and monetary costs of technology in business. Putting the key issues into context, the study found the vast majority of SME leaders in Birmingham (90%) and Manchester (82%) said they find the current economic climate difficult to navigate. Moreover, it revealed that just over half (53%) of Birmingham businesses, and just under half (44%) of Manchester businesses think they could lose good employees as a result of poor connectivity. With growth front of mind for SMEs, almost two-thirds (63%) in Birmingham said their business could grow faster if they had access to better tech, compared with 53% of Manchester SMEs – much higher than the national average of 43%. Meanwhile, nearly half in both cities (46% in Birmingham and 48% in Manchester) thought their business could be left behind because of poor tech, compared with 39% across the country.