Business News Round Up (12/09/2024)
Scotland has one of largest increase in footfall in UK
Northern Ireland, the North East and Scotland show the largest increase in town centre visitors as Footfall Report shows positive trend across UK. Place Informatics, the leading provider of footfall and location visitor behaviour data monitoring in the UK, has published a national visitor data report giving a detailed overview of town centre footfall across the UK in 2024. The report gives detailed monthly insights into town centres and the latest report for July has shown that visitor numbers have increased for the first time across the UK this year compared to 2023 figures. The report revealed a 0.72% increase in visitors, marking a positive shift following a steady decline in footfall numbers during the first half of 2024. The report examines town centre visitor trends nationally and across 12 UK regions throughout 2024, focusing on monthly fluctuations and comparing this data to the previous year.
UK economy flatlines for second month in a row
The UK economy remained flat in July, recording no growth for the second consecutive month, and raising expectations for a cut in interest rates. Economists had expected a 0.2% increase in GDP. While services output increased by 0.1%, it was insufficient to offset a 0.8% decrease in production output and a 0.4% drop in construction output, according to the Office for National Statistics. The manufacturing sector also recorded a decline, with production falling by 1% after a 1.1% rise in June. Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The economy recorded no growth for the second month running, though longer term strength in the services sector meant there was growth over the last three months. July’s monthly services growth was led by computer programmers and health, which recovered from strike action in June. These gains were partially offset by falls for advertising companies, architects and engineers.”
https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2024/09/uk-economy-flatlines-for-second-month-in-a-row/
High Street hit as 38 shops close every day
Pharmacies, pubs and banks made up half of the closures on Britain’s High Streets in the first six months of this year, data suggests. A total of 6,945 stores have closed so far in 2024, which is the equivalent of 38 shops per day. However, if you take into account new store openings, there’s only a net closure of 12 stores a day, which is slightly higher than same period last year. On average 18 chemists, 16 pubs and nine banks shut down every week between January and June – according to research from accountancy firm PwC. But only three convenience stores and one café chain opened in their place, highlighting the huge changes taking place in town centres. Last year saw net store closures of 11 shops a day.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp35e8ggk59o
£8bn AWS investment ‘to support 14,000 jobs per year’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed an £8 billion investment from Amazon Web Services which is estimated to support thousands of jobs across the UK. The Chancellor secured the planned five-year investment last week at a meeting with AWS. The investment is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year at local businesses, including those across the company’s data centre supply chain such as construction, facility maintenance, engineering and telecommunications, as well as other jobs within the broader local economy. AWS itself estimates that these investments in the UK will contribute £14bn to the UK’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2024 to 2028.
https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/8bn-aws-investment-to-support-14000-jobs-per-year/