Business News Round Up (07/06/2021)
Scotland buck UK and European trend with surge in foreign investment
EY, the accounting and consultancy firm, said Scotland secured 107 FDI projects in 2020, a 6% increase on the previous year, with 61 new projects – a five year high. It comes as the number of UK FDI projects fell by 12% from 1,109 to 974 over the same period. The same downturn saw projects across Europe drop by 13% from 6,412 to 5,578. The three leading sectors generating inward investments into Scotland in 2020 were digital technology (19 projects), agri-food (14 projects) and business services. The top performing sector in 2019 – machinery and equipment – fell out of the top five, with four projects. Oil and gas ranked fourth with nine projects), with utility supply in fifth place with eight projects, underlining the continued importance of energy projects to the Scottish economy. Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen were all ranked in the UK’s top ten cities for FDI projects outside London, with Edinburgh placed first.
North West in UK’s top three regions for foreign direct investment projects
The North West’s attractiveness as an investment destination has grown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is now one of the UK’s top three locations for attracting inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, EY’s latest UK Attractiveness Survey has revealed. With 85 projects in 2020, the North West overtook the South East (72) to become the UK’s third largest FDI location, behind Greater London and Scotland. Last year’s performance was a 16% improvement on 2019 when the region secured 73 projects and meant the North West’s share of UK projects rose from 6.6% to 8.7%. By contrast, European projects were down 13% and UK projects fell by 12%. Digital technology was the leading sector in the North West in 2020, with 19 projects – down from 23 in 2019 – followed by business services with 11 (11) and machinery and equipment manufacture with seven (up from five). Projects were most likely to involve sales and service activities (43 projects, up from 37 in 2019), manufacturing (18 projects, up from 14) and research and development (nine projects, up from seven).
Majority of UK SMEs confident about growth but future lockdown fears remain
Small businesses in the UK (SMEs) are increasingly more confident in their ability to grow and power the economic recovery but fears about the ongoing impact of the pandemic lockdown still linger. According to new data published today by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) 63% of SMEs are emerging from lockdown with either concrete plans or intentions to grow their business over the next year. The manufacturing sector (68%) is particularly optimistic, while 58% of the hardest hit business-to-consumer (B2C) companies including hospitality, catering and retail still anticipate growth. The research in partnership with Funding Circle — the UK’s largest small business loan platform — surveyed more than 1,000 firms, almost all SMEs.
Retail employment at fastest rate in years, new research says
The retail industry is scurrying to hire employees at the fastest rate in years as reopenings take place across the UK. Vacancies advertised across the UK rose by 88,000 in April to hit a post-pandemic high of 747,000 ahead of the return of shops and outdoor hospitality on April 12, according to the ONS. The demand was biggest in accommodation and food, where vacancies jumped 70pc or 29,000 to 70,000. Fashion firms are among the companies hit the hardest, followed by smaller retailers, which employ up to 1000 staff. B&M is currently struggling with a continued shortage of HGV drivers in the UK as well as workers doing night shifts in its distribution centres post-Brexit. It warned it could incur higher business costs as a result. It has already hired 7000 staff during the pandemic.