Business News Round Up (06/09/2021)
Nearly 250,000 Scots ran new or fledgling businesses in pandemic year
Almost 250,000 people in Scotland launched new businesses or continued to run early-stage enterprises during 2020, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey has found. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Scotland 2020 report estimates 7.3% of the Scottish population, or 247,000 adults, were actively engaged in setting up a business or already running an enterprise established in the past three-and-a-half years. Despite the healthy level of entrepreneurial activity, there will undoubtedly be significant challenges ahead for start-ups and the figures were accompanied by a grim warning about their prospects. Around 60,000 young people in Scotland, or 13% of 18-24-year-olds, were early-stage entrepreneurs, the highest rate among the home nations, the report says. Entrepreneurship among people under 30 in Scotland has steadily grown from being the lowest in the UK at 3.5% in the 2007-09 period. GEM measures rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in the general adult population. In 2020 nearly 140,000 people from 46 economies across the globe were surveyed, with 2,019 responses from Scotland.
UK exports suffer huge slump since Brexit vote
The UK is the only country in North West Europe to suffer from declining exports since the Brexit vote in 2016, according to new research. The House of Commons Library analysis, using IMF data, shows that every neighbouring European country has increased its exports over the past five years except for the UK. The SNP leapt on the figures to argue that it proved how Boris Johnson had been wrong to claim Brexit would boost trade. The nationalists claimed that it will wipe £9 billion from Scotland’s GDP by £9 billion. The Commons data shows the UK saw a decline in exports of -5.5% over five years, putting it behind 13 neighbouring countries: Ireland (+48.1%), Finland (+18.8%), Sweden (+15.5%), the Netherlands (+15%), Denmark (+14%), Luxembourg (+13.6%), Austria (+11.1%), Germany (+9.5%), Switzerland (+7.5%), France (+6.7%), Belgium (+6.2%), Norway (+4.8%) and Iceland (+0.8%). On average, independent countries of Scotland’s size or smaller recorded the biggest increase in exports since 2016 at +16.7%, compared to an average increase of +11.9% for all countries in North West Europe.
2,000 shops shut their doors across the North in the first half of the year
Thousands of shops have closed across the North during the first half of the year, research has shown. In total 2,046 shut their doors across Northern high streets, retail parks and shopping centres between January and June, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC). During that time 865 shops opened creating a net decline of 1,181. The overall net closure rate for the North was 374 lower (24%) than it was at the same point last year, despite some well-known high street fashion and department stores exiting the market in early 2021. In the North West 982 shops closed compared to 421 openings and in Yorkshire & Humber there was a total of 738 store closures with 304 new openings in the region. Nationally more than 8,700 chain stores disappeared from Great Britain’s retail locations in the first six months of 2021. When compared with last year, the data suggests the rate of closures slowed down – with 11,120 shops shutting their doors in the first half of 2020 as the Covid pandemic hit, a net decrease of 6,001. Despite the slowdown in net closures the flight from cities continues to contribute to the decline in multiple stores, with city centres now faring worse than commuter towns and villages (-4.3% vs -3.0% and -2.3%).
Scotland set to lead UK’s green economic growth – Lloyds
Scotland is in the strongest position to drive the growth of the green economy in the UK, according to new research by Lloyds Banking Group. Their UK Green Growth Index assessed opportunities across the nations and regions of the UK, with Oxford Economics analysing data across four themes: existing base of green industry; skills and training; innovation; and renewable energy. Scotland came out on top with a score of 80.6, based on its existing green infrastructure and future potential. The nation has a base of 21,000 existing green economy jobs, in sectors such as onshore and offshore wind and hydroelectric power. Based on the size of its labour market, Scotland has the highest concentration of green jobs in the UK. Relative to its population, Scotland also benefits from the largest number of higher education students studying green-related subjects, such as engineering and technology, building and planning, and agriculture. The density of students in green-related subjects is more than 27% greater than in second placed Wales.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotland-set-lead-uks-green-24903923