Business News Round Up (06/08/2024)
Manchester is highest ranking English city in Colliers’ latest top UK Residential Investment Cities report
Manchester has been named as the highest-ranking city for residential investment, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers’ latest edition of its UK’s Top UK Residential Investment Cities report. Manchester scored third overall in the ranking, behind Scottish cities Edinburgh and Glasgow, which remained steadfast in their position since the previous iteration of the report in H2 2023. Manchester’s new position as the top English city is a result of its strong economic performance, as well as favourable property factors. The city has had a record house price growth of 33% during the last five years, far outstripping the report’s 20-city average of 15%. It is also predicted to have a strong GDP growth at an annual rate of 2.2% during the next five years, which is also above the 20-city average of 1.8%, while the unemployment rate is forecast to average 3.7% during the same period.
https://www.colliers.com/en-gb/news/05-08-24-colliers-latest-topukresidential-investment-cities
New research reveals half of Scottish workers want more flexibility at work
According to new research released today, half (51%) of Scottish workers want more flexibility – and more than one in three (34%) with children under 18 would consider term-time-only working. The survey, a YouGov poll commissioned by Amazon, also reveals almost half (44%) of workers in Scotland say they have no option to work flexibly at all. The survey follows a recent expansion of Amazon’s own term-time working option. Launched as a response to employee feedback, this option is now available to thousands of people across Amazon’s operations network following a pilot in the company’s larger fulfilment centres to understand how the option could better support families during school holidays. The company also recently introduced Amazon Anytime; a flexible part-time contract for a minimum of 80 hours a month, which lets employees pick and mix the shifts which suit their needs – part-day or full-day, day or night, weekday or weekend.
Back-to-school shopping fails to stem sales decline
Early back-to-school purchases were not enough to stem the dip in Scottish sales during a “disappointing” July. Retail experts said Scots prioritised leisure activities, socialising and holidays last month rather than shopping. Sales of larger items fared poorly, and sales of TVs dipped following the end of the Euros, while purchases ahead of the start of the new school term later this month did not have enough impact to make a difference. Total sales in Scotland decreased by 1.2% year-on-year compared with July 2023, when they had grown 4.6%, the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and KPMG Scottish Retail Sales Monitor showed. This was above the three-month average decrease of 1.6% and below the 12-month average growth of 1.5%. Adjusted for inflation, the year-on-year decline was 1.4%. Sales on a like-for-like basis decreased by 0.7% compared with July 2023, when they had increased by 3.5%.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/back-school-shopping-fails-stem-33397690
Most active North West advisers in first half of 2024 revealed
The most active legal and financial advisers in the North West’s mergers and acquisition (M&A) sector during the first half of 2024 have been revealed in a new report by Experian Market IQ. Mills & Reeve was the most active firm in the legal adviser rankings, working on 20 deals. Napthens Solicitors (19), the most active firm in 2023, was in second ahead of Hill Dickinson, Eversheds Sutherland and Brabners. Addleshaw Goddard, Shoosmiths, Gateley and Harrison Clark Rickerbys made up the top ten. With 21 deals, K3 Capital Group topped the financial adviser rankings by volume ahead of Grant Thornton (14) and RSM (12). The largest transaction in the region during the half was the cross-border acquisition by Bury-based JD Sports Fashion, the sports and leisurewear retailer, of Hibbett Sports, an operator of athletic speciality stores located in the USA, for £887m.