Business News Round Up (10/08/2021)
UK Report: Business closures in Q2 second highest since 2017 with small businesses taking a hit
The number of businesses in the U.K. that closed in Q2 was the highest since 2017 as the number hit 105,455, according to a report from the Office of National Statistics. In 2017, by contrast, the number had reached 98,880 in Q2, which was higher than any year in between then and now. The number in 2021 was 43% higher than that which happened at the same time in 2020. The largest increases in business closures came in the categories of transport and storage, along with the professional, scientific, and technical industries. The report details the facts that there was a 91% increase in closures for the transportation and storage industry. Meanwhile there was a 35% boost for professional, scientific, and technical companies. All sixteen of the major groups showed a boost in closures, though. The business closures, according to the report, resulted in the businesses removed from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) in the U.K. Businesses are removed from that register if their turnover and employment have been zero for several periods. But the report notes that there was a more robust growth than usual in business closures this quarter compared to the same time in 2020, because Q2 in 2020 featured government help at that time, which likely prevented too many businesses from closing down at first.
£10m fund launched to save high street as Covid pressure mounts
A new £10 million multi-year fund has been launched to help transform towns and neighbourhoods after the pandemic accelerated the high street’s decline. The Scotland Loves Local Fund aims to encourage people to think ‘local first’, and support businesses and enterprises in their community. The fund will provide match funding of between £5,000 and £25,000 for projects run by groups like town centre partnerships, chambers of commerce or community and charity trusts. The Covid-19 crisis has crippled footfall on Scottish high streets. In June 2021 shopper numbers were down by 29.9% on the same period two years ago, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC). But the high street was facing challenges before the pandemic, including dealing with an increasing amount of surplus space owing to businesses closing their doors due to administration, moving to online or to out-of-town retail parks. Administered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership, the new fund aims to bring suitable, creative projects and activity to towns and neighbourhoods – helping build local wealth and increase footfall and activity, while supporting local enterprise partnerships.
UK’s green economy four times larger than manufacturing sector, says report
The UK’s low carbon economy is now worth more than £200bn, four times the size of the country’s manufacturing sector, with growth expected to accelerate in the coming years, according to new analysis. Despite what experts say has been lacklustre and patchy support from central government, the analysis found more than 75,000 businesses from wind turbine manufacturers to recycling plants employ more than 1.2 million people in the green economy. Experts say the sector not only has the potential to help tackle the climate crisis but also create sustainable jobs and improve people’s quality of life – with cleaner transport, reduced air pollution and better insulated homes. But they warn that if the UK is to make the necessary rapid and fair transition to a low carbon economy, the government must mobilise all sections of society – from trade unions to local authorities, community groups to businesses – behind a “national programme of transformation”.
Brexit causing Scotch whisky industry ‘£5 million per week’ as exports drop
The Scotch whisky industry is losing £5 million per week as a result of Brexit, the Scottish National Party has claimed. The SNP cited House of Commons research which showed exports of whiskies to the EU were £105.7m lower in January to May 2021 than during the same period in 2019. In the immediate aftermath of the EU transition deal, the whisky industry saw its exports drop to £135.9m lower than in the same period in 2019, which works out as £10.4m a week lower on average. In 2019, Scotch whisky accounted for three quarters of all Scottish food and drink exports, 21% of all UK food and drink exports, and 1.4% of all UK goods exports. But the UK Government claimed the SNP’s interpretation was “misleading” and insisted it was too early to tell the impact of Brexit on exports.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/brexit-costing-scotch-whisky-industry-24724714