Business News Round Up (06/06/2022)

Mid-sized businesses struggling with hybrid adoption

A majority of mid-sized businesses have adopted hybrid working since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. However, one-fifth of those firms struggle to implement it effectively. Stressed, over-worked employees are more likely to take time off sick and more likely to quit. Meanwhile, a mounting body of research before 2020 showed that over-worked employees were less engaged and productive. In contrast, flexible working offers staff a better work-life balance, less stress, and the opportunity to recoup their energies more easily. As such, it is estimated that flexible working could contribute just under £40 billion to the UK economy. Implementing flexible working can be hard though. As in the case of any transformation programme, ingrained cultures throughout the workforce can prove resistant to change, while institutional mechanisms may also struggle to accommodate new practices. To this end, while a study from Grant Thornton has found that of more than 300 SMEs, 51% of companies have adopted hybrid working approaches since the lifting of lockdown, many feel unable to get the most from it. Of those firms, only 51% found it was working well in their business. Meanwhile, 19% said it was an active struggle to implement hybrid working effectively.

https://www.consultancy.uk/news/31430/mid-sized-businesses-struggling-with-hybrid-adoption

Scotland’s digital projects soared by 74 per cent last year according to new figures

Digital projects secured from foreign investment last year grew by 74% in Scotland according to latest economic figures from accounting giant EY. The annual foreign direct investment survey showed the rate of increase far outstripped that of the UK, which rose by seven per cent and Europe which saw a decline of seven per cent. EY Scotland’s latest annual attractiveness survey indicated that Scotland secured 14% more foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2021 (122) compared with 2020 (107).  In comparison, there was a 1.8% increase in the number of FDI projects attracted to the UK as a whole, while the number of European inward investment projects increased by 5.4% over the same period. For the purposes of the survey, FDI projects includes investment from the rest of the UK into Scotland, or involves a company or institution headquartered outside of Scotland that establishes a base of operations within Scotland. The results of the survey confirmed the country was again the most attractive location for inward investment in the UK outside of London. Scotland increased its share of the total inward investment projects attracted by the UK, from 11% in 2020 to 12.3% in 2021.  Crucially, its investment destination attractiveness rose to its highest level, with 15.8% of investors rating the country as the most attractive location in the UK for FDI, more than double the 2019 figure (seven per cent).

Logistics sector provides job boost to level up the regions

The logistics sector has expanded by 190,000 employees since 2019 and has driven the creation of a further 125,000 jobs in regional economies, research suggests. The sector, with its focus on transporting goods to consumers, is one of the fastest-growing in Britain because of the popularity of online shopping, which boomed over the course of the pandemic. The number of jobs in logistics has doubled since 2012, according to analysis commissioned by Amazon and carried out by Frontier Economics, a consultancy. Jobs are distributed across all regions of the UK, with many in non-urban areas, researchers said, but logistics jobs were half as likely as the average job in another sector to be based in London. Sarah Snelson, director of Frontier Economics, said that the sector played an important role in the government’s ambitions to “level up” regional economic growth. She said growth in logistics jobs also created the need for other jobs in the local economy and added: “It offers significant employment and progression opportunities, including for those individuals with limited formal qualifications.”

Scottish retail footfall growth ‘worst in UK compared to pre-pandemic’

Scotland’s shopper footfall growth has been ranked the worst in the UK, compared with pre-pandemic levels. Data from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Sensormatic for May showed that Scottish footfall decreased by 16.4%, compared with 2019. While footfall across the UK also worsened from pre-pandemic levels, Scotland’s score ever lower than the UK average decline of 12.5%. However, there are signs of improvement in shopping centre footfall, with a 19.7% decline noted in May, compared with 2019. This is an increase on the 20% decline in April. David Lonsdale, director at the SRC, said that ScotRail cancellations and the cost-of-living crisis are likely to be responsible for the lack of shoppers. “The figures weakened during the latter part of the month, perhaps derailed somewhat by the train drivers’ dispute. However, the performance wasn’t uniform across all retail destinations – visits to shopping centres improved slightly and for a fourth consecutive month, while in Glasgow it remained on par with the month before which was the joint best performance so far this calendar year. Hopefully, this dip in foot-traffic will prove temporary although concerns over the economic outlook, rising cost of living and continued absence of some commuters remain. Meanwhile, there remains a question mark over the government’s mooted return to city centres visitor campaign and the cash disbursed to local councils recently to aid city centre recovery and whether they are having much impact on generating the footfall that is so urgently needed.”

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-retail-footfall-growth-worst-27130032