Business News Round Up (1/11/19)
Annual price growth in key UK cities now half what it has been over last five years
According to the Zoopla Cities House Price index, property prices in key cities increased by 2.4% on average in the last 12 months, with this figure increasing to 4.8% over the last five years. The highest market growth was experienced in Leicester at 6%, followed by Manchester at 5.1%, Liverpool at 4% and Belfast and Edinburgh at 3.7%.
Scottish businesses struggle to pay debts
UK credit check specialist CreditSafe has revealed the number of County Court Judgements (CCJs) issued to businesses in the UK over the last three years has increased by 105%, with Scotland reporting an increase of 41%. Businesses in Scotland saw a significant increase in the number of CCJs filed against them, with 1,144 in the period 2016 to 2017, rising to 1,611 in the period 2018 to 2019.
https://scottishbusinessnews.net/2019/10/31/scottish-businesses-struggle-to-pay-debts/
Uncertainty sucks life out of North West M&A markets
The North West mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has experienced a decrease in activity as a result of uncertain economic conditions. Experian MarketIQ has revealed that despite a favourable funding environment and strong activity in high growth sectors such as FinTech and Artificial Intelligence, UK M&A activity saw a decrease of £150 billion. 2019 has seen a total of 598 deals worth £4.7 billion in the North West, compared with 652 deals worth £6.3 billion in the same period last year.
Modulr invest £20m to supercharge Scottish FinTech
Modulr, an Edinburgh based FinTech company, has revealed plans to invest £20 million in the Scottish FinTech industry in an effort to drive disruptive innovation and further boost Scotland’s growing reputation as a tech hub, as well as creating 53 highly skilled jobs in the region.
https://scottishbusinessnews.net/2019/10/31/modulr-invest-20m-to-supercharge-scottish-fintech/