Business News Round Up (08/12/2022)
UK jobs market wobbles after months of defying economic reality
The UK jobs market is looking increasingly fragile after months of defying economic gravity, a new survey out today reveals. KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) permanent hiring index came in at 46.4 points last month, below the 50 point mark that separates growth and contraction. Despite the index indicating businesses are cooling off from taking on staff, it did jump from 45 points in October, which experts said signalled unemployment may not rise as much as in previous economic downturns. Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said: “This month’s data emphasises that while employers are moderately more cautious in the face of economic uncertainty, this is not yet a major slowdown in hiring.” Joblessness has pegged around historic lows for most of this year despite the UK economy softening sharply. The country is on course for an at least year long recession, driven by consumers cutting spending in reaction to inflation eroding their real incomes. Unemployment normally rises during recessions due to businesses reining in costs over fears their finances will be knocked by a reduction in demand. However, demand for staff has run hot all year, with the ratio of vacancies to the number of unemployed people hitting record levels. Open roles grew in November, with KPMG and REC’s vacancies index notching 54.1 points.
https://www.cityam.com/uk-jobs-market-wobbles-after-months-of-defying-economic-reality/
PE firm backs Northern businesses with £41m in 2022
NVM Private Equity says it has invested more money across the North of England this year than in any previous year, with an investment of £41m into three businesses. The three Northern deals comprise: Inprova – a leading technology and data enabled procurement services business operating across private, public and third sector organisations. YorkTest – a leading health and wellness company with over 40 years of expertise in food intolerance and allergy testing in the home-to-laboratory test market. Easby Group – a specialist electronics distributor and service provider operating in the electronics supply chain. The deals have been led by Andy Leach and Oliver Wildig from NVM’s Manchester office and Mauro Biagioni from NVM’s Newcastle office. NVM invests into UK based businesses requiring equity investment of between £7.5mand £20m and specialises in helping to scale regional SMEs.
Hiring activity weakens again in November
Hiring activity fell across Scotland again in November amid greater economic uncertainty and strong cost pressures. For the second month running, the latest Royal Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs survey found that both permanent staff hires, and temporary billings fell, with the former recording the quickest reduction since June 2020. While staff availability continued to deteriorate, demand for labour expanded at a softer, but still strong rate. The ongoing imbalance of labour demand and supply led to further rises in both starting salaries and short-temp pay. For the second successive month, permanent placements fell across Scotland in November. The rate of reduction quickened from October to the fastest since the initial phase of the pandemic in June 2020. Increased market uncertainty and candidate shortages were blamed for the latest drop in permanent staff appointments. Permanent placements also fell across the UK as a whole for the second month in a row; albeit at a softer pace than that seen in Scotland. November data highlighted a fall in temp billings across Scotland for the second consecutive month. Adjusted for seasonality, the respective index pointed to a slower and modest pace of decrease. According to anecdotal evidence, concerns about the outlook weighed on labour market activity.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/hiring-activity-weakens-again-november-28681758
Christmas is cancelled for 26% of consumers in Scotland because of the cost of living crisis
Christmas is cancelled for 26% of consumers in Scotland because of the cost of living crisis – leaving retailers facing a nightmare New Year stuck with excess stock. Half of shoppers (49%) are ‘worried’ about being able to afford to buy gifts for the festive period. And a fifth of households (21%) plan to spend less this year than they did last year. Almost one in six people (15%) said they plan to buy no presents at all to save cash, 17% are ditching the Christmas tree and 16% will go without a turkey. The findings come from a new poll of 2,000 shoppers from Inventory Planner, which provides forecasting and planning software for businesses. They provide a stark warning to retailers about the dangers of being caught with excess stock. Almost six out of ten retailers (59%) told Inventory Planner there would be ‘dangerous ramifications’ for their business if they failed to sell excess stock ahead of Christmas. Inventory Planner’s findings showed how strict budgeting by consumers will hit retailers this Christmas. The survey found that households were looking at lots of ways to limit spending this Christmas. The most popular way was to minimise travel to save on petrol and other travel costs such as rail – chosen by 26% of respondents. A quarter of households (24%) have set a strict spending limit for Christmas.