Business News Round Up (06/03/2023)
Scottish firms remain resilient, but investment is needed for stronger growth in the future
Launched in 1998 and now in its 25th year, the Scottish Business Monitor is one of Scotland’s preeminent trackers of business sentiment and activity. The quarterly monitor is published weeks in advance of national statistics, allowing the temperature of the economy to be taken closer to real-time. The Scottish business survey is compiled by the Fraser of Allander Institute, an independent economics research institute at the University of Strathclyde, and is produced in partnership with Addleshaw Goddard, an international law firm. In celebration of 100 business monitors, the Institute today published analysis of the past 25 years of business in Scotland, highlighting how Scottish firms have coped with significant changes in the economic landscape. The latest findings show that business sentiment fell to a 25-year low at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, significantly lower than that felt during the Great Financial Crisis. While exporting levels have recovered since the lowest rate recorded by the monitor in 2020, the net balance of firms reporting an increase in current and expected export activity remains well below zero as of Q4 2022. Additionally, the share of firms reporting increased costs reached their highest levels on record towards the end of 2021 and throughout 2022. In the Institute’s most recent quarterly monitor for Q4 2022, published in January, they found that 90% of firms surveyed had seen their costs increase on the year, with just under half reporting that they expected to reduce operations in 2023 due to higher energy bills.
Half of women business owners rejected for a loan, survey finds
Half of female entrepreneurs have been turned down for a loan to fund their new business – putting pressure on the Government’s ambitions to boost Britain’s economy, according to new research. Some women business owners called out being viewed as “part-timers” because they have children or perceived as less serious professionals than their male counterparts. Some 53% of women across the UK admitted that having limited access to finance has made it challenging to start their own firms, financial platform Tide found in a survey of its members. Being shut out from accessing funding or a loan was seen as the biggest barrier to successfully launching a business. The challenges were even more pronounced for black women, with more than two thirds of black female business owners finding the process challenging. It compares to just under half of white and Indian women who said so, exposing the additional barriers that some women from ethnic minorities face.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/half-women-business-owners-rejected-000100751.html
Digital transformation initiative launches for SME manufacturers
Made Smarter has launched a new fast-track leadership programme to help North West SME manufacturers accelerate their digital transformation. The ‘Leading Digital Transformation’ programme aims to turn participants into digitally-informed, empowered leaders, armed with a bespoke digitalisation strategy. The funded initiative has been designed by Made Smarter’s North West Adoption Programme, the government-funded industry-led initiative to increase technology adoption among SME manufacturers, and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). It will be provided through a blend of face-to-face workshops, online webinars, case studies and site visits to smart factories, including Print City, MMU’s 3D additive and digital manufacturing hub, where participants will see technology in action. The programme is available by application to manufacturing businesses with less than 250 employees, a turnover less than £3m or balance sheet less than £18m, and a significant part of their operations based in the North West
https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-west/digital-transformation-launches-for-sme-manufacturers
More than 22,000 opportunities created in two years through Young Person’s Guarantee
The scheme was designed to help avoid a surge in youth unemployment following the Covid-19 pandemic and aims to provide every 16–24-year-old in Scotland with an opportunity through jobs, apprenticeships, further or higher education, training, or volunteering. Since its foundation, it has attracted support from 816 employers and is said to have generated the equivalent of more than 30 opportunities a day. Many of the opportunities are specifically targeted at those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Sandy Begbie, chair of Developing the Young Workforce, and Chief Executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, the trade body for Scotland’s financial services industry, welcomed the progress but said there was still more work to be done. “The Young Person’s Guarantee has played a crucial role in helping to keep Scotland’s youth unemployment rate amongst the lowest in Europe over the last two years, creating more than 22,000 opportunities for 16-24-year-olds across Scotland,” he said.