Business News Round Up (15/07/2021)
Demand for finance among Scottish SMEs outweighing level of supply – British Business Bank
Demand for finance among small businesses is exceeding the level of supply across Scotland, a new survey suggests. The vast majority (84%) of the Scottish business advisory community, made up of accountants, lawyers and business finance advisors, surveyed believe there are gaps in the supply of finance throughout all stages of company growth and development. Nearly three-quarters (71%) said the demand for finance outweighs the level of supply, according to the British Business Bank, whose research was conducted by Ipsos Mori. Respondents also said small businesses in general will require additional finance over the next 12 to 18 months due to the pandemic. Of those surveyed, 86% in Scotland said smaller businesses would require additional debt finance and 79% said the same about growth stage equity or venture capital.
More work needed on jobs and housing to ‘level up’ UK regions
A new report published by financial services group, Legal & General, has found despite large-scale infrastructure investments, more work is needed on jobs and housing to level up the most deprived parts of the UK. Legal & General launched the L&G Rebuilding Britain Index in April to establish quarterly progress on rebalancing the UK’s economic prosperity away from London and South East England. The research surveys 20,000 people across 52 measures, including Health and Social care, Education, Housing, Jobs & Economic Prosperity, Environment, Energy, Transport and Digital. The most recent index showed that despite economic growth as the economy has begun to reopen after Covid-19, and the announcement of a number of large scale government investment plans, access to quality, affordable housing has fallen slightly across the country.
Manchester crowned biggest tech hub outside of UK capital
Manchester is the UK’s most impactful tech hotspot outside of London, according to research by digital learning company Fire Tech. In a study analysing more than 100,000 UK-based roles advertised on jobs site Indeed, the company sought to pinpoint the nation’s most impactful tech cities, home to the most tech- or digitally-focused employment opportunities outside of the capital. A concurrent survey of more than 2,000 workers took place alongside the research. The UK is currently facing a digital skills shortage in the fallout of the pandemic, cemented by the fact that almost three-quarters (74%) of respondents believed they would have to relocate to London to secure a job in tech. There are, in fact, a number of UK cities that are recognised ‘hubs’ for well-paid roles in the field, but the lack of awareness surrounding these opportunities has fed the misconception that workers must migrate to the capital to secure a meaningful role.
https://edtechnology.co.uk/business/manchester-crowned-biggest-tech-hub-outside-uk-capital/
Financial industry to invest in new tech as UK economy rebounds
Over two thirds of banking and financial services companies plan to invest in new technology and diversify the types of tech they use, according to new research.A survey of 250 senior decision makers found that almost three quarters will invest in improving the quality of their core technology over the next year, as the UK economy begins its pandemic recovery. Over 65% saw this investment, in both front and back-end, technology as a strategy to attract new customers or increase sales to existing ones. Almost three quarters also said they planned to focus on their customers’ digital experience by improving their website or app while 63% said they will focus on automating interactions with customers through chatbots and robotic-advisors. Data analytics, application programming interfaces (APIs) and payment technologies were some of the most popular areas of investment for the finance firms.