Business News Round Up (08/02/2022)
Global Britain: £500bn Brexit boost and 5m jobs via supercharge of UK exports and new trade ties
Supercharging UK exports may result in a £500bn Brexit boost and could create up to 5m new jobs, according to a group of business leaders. The Global Britain Commission, which was set up by former trade minister Liam Fox, has set out detail for a blueprint for Global Britain in a post-Brexit world. If Britain boosted its exports per capita to match those of Europe’s largest market, Germany, the country could rake in an additional £474 every year, the group said. Even though the UK is one of the most significant trading nations in terms of absolute export value, bringing in £601bn of exports and £598bn of imports last year, on a per-capita basis Britain’s record lags behind many other major economies. Global Britain said that, on a per capita basis, exports of goods and services in the UK in 2020 were around £8,597 per capita, compared to £15,645 in Germany, so if the UK boosted its exports per capita equal to Germany’s numbers, Britain would pull in an additional £474bn, the group said.
Three quarters of Greater Manchester’s tech and digital businesses saw growth last year
Almost three quarters of Greater Manchester tech and digital businesses reported an increase in revenue in the last year. On top of this, 70% of businesses reported an increase in employees over the past 12 months. Of those advertised vacancies, 68% were for developers, and 62% of businesses said that developers were key to their growth over the next three years. The next most-recruited roles were digital marketing (46%); project management (44%); UX research and design (32%) and testers/QA (32%). The most difficult to fill roles were cited as developer (55%); dev ops (41%); IT and infrastructure (17%) and testers/QA (14%). The annual Skills Audit completed by trade body Manchester Digital, as part of its Digital Skills Festival, surveyed businesses, and individuals on a wide range of issues from growth and skills through to diversity and inclusion, as well as future skills required. The most required future skills were cited as: developer (62%); digital marketing (51%); project management (45%); sales and business development (43%) and dev ops (43%).
One in five SMEs ‘will struggle’ to pay wages in April
Rising costs mean more than one in five (22%) small and mid-sized firms in Scotland will struggle to meet their payroll costs in April, it has been claimed. Rising National Insurance Contributions (NICs), interest rates, energy prices and the minimum wage rates are among the additional costs facing businesses. The warning emerges in the SME Recovery Tracker from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Corporate Finance Network (CFN). The survey, which polls accountancy professionals representing more than 8,000 Scottish businesses on the financial outlook of their SME clients, reveals the added pressures on top of supply chain issues. On a positive note, Scottish businesses remain optimistic about the opportunities for growth over the next 12 months, with only 7% predicted to run out of cash in the next year, lower than the UK national average of 21%. Half of Scottish SMEs are actively looking to grow in the first half of 2022, compared to the UK national average of 38%, and almost half (45%) anticipate that they will employ more people in a year’s time.
Manchester leads the way with outstanding economic growth
Despite the many challenges faced in 2021, Manchester was one of the UK’s leading cities in terms of resilience and growth, and the odds look good for this to continue into 2022. Economic growth in Manchester in 2021 was the second highest of 30 major European cities, according to new research released by Avison Young. The north-west city’s economy expanded by 8%, and experts predict this could remain high for the year ahead at 6.5%. Despite the many challenges faced in 2021, Manchester was one of the UK’s leading cities in terms of resilience and growth, and the odds look good for this to continue into 2022. Economic growth in Manchester in 2021 was the second highest of 30 major European cities, according to new research released by Avison Young. The north-west city’s economy expanded by 8%, and experts predict this could remain high for the year ahead at 6.5%.