Business News Round Up (16/01/2023)
Scottish private sector activity contracts at a softer pace in December
Scottish private sector activity fell at the end of the year, although the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Business Activity Index improved from November’s recent low of 43.9 to 48.3 in December; the softest downturn in activity in the current five-month sequence of reduction. Similarly, while new work received fell strongly in December, the pace of decrease was softer than that recorded in the previous survey period. However, the ongoing drop in business requirements amid challenging demand conditions resulted in the first fall in employment in 21 months. Moreover, as backlogs of work continued to decrease, and expectations moderated further. Demand shortfalls continued to lead a decrease in new work received across Scotland’s private sector in December, thereby extending the run of contraction to six successive months. The cost of living crisis, higher interest rates and growing economic uncertainty were all linked to the loss in client appetite. Moreover, the downturn in incoming new business across Scotland was stronger than that recorded at the UK-level.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-private-sector-activity-contracts-28947083
North West business activity stabilises in December – NatWest
The North West’s private sector economy ended 2022 on a more stable footing, according to the latest Regional PMI data from NatWest, with business activity holding steady in December after three straight months of contraction. Elsewhere, the survey signalled a further easing of price pressures, albeit with rates of both input cost and output charge inflation remaining above their historical averages. The headline North West PMI Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – registered in line with the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction in December. It was up from 48.5 in November and followed three consecutive sub-50 readings. The result was a sixth consecutive monthly decrease in intakes of new business. However, the rate of decline eased notably since November, when it was the quickest for the best part of two years, to only a modest pace that was the weakest for three months. The reduction was also less marked than that recorded across the UK as a whole.
Scotland’s top salary increases revealed
Professional jobs in the engineering industry in Scotland were among the positions commanding top salary increases for 2022. The latest data from recruitment company Hays showed that engineering roles and electrical or mechanical engineers took the top spots, with salary increases of up to 28%. The latest Salary & Recruiting Trends guide, which includes more than 10,000 salaries across 16 industry areas, showed that jobs in IT and technology still featured strongly in the top 20, with cyber security analysts and software developers in third and fourth places respectively: with an increase of over 24%. New entries in the list include events managers in fifth place (23% increase), recruitment advisors in sixth (21% increase) and import/export administrators in tenth place, with an increase of 19% in the last 12 months. Hays Scotland director Keith Mason said that science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) skills are still highly sought after, with engineering projects in Scotland likely to be a significant economic driver.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotlands-top-salary-increases-revealed-28962887
New tourism data initiative to help industry recover from pandemic
A new tourism data initiative is set to help the industry in Scotland better showcase their destinations and recover from the Covid pandemic. Funded by the Scottish Government, the university of Dundee will work with smart travel app Geotourist on creating a data dashboard for Scottish tourism businesses. The project aims to identify and assess the platform’s economic and social benefits to Scottish tourism – and is issuing a call for destination management organisation to get involved. With 20 spaces on offer, each will have a Geotourist multimedia trail created – to showcase their destination or brand – with access to a data dashboard to assess and analyse results. The project runs until May 2023, with results released in a paper authored by Dr Keith Dinnie, an industry report co-authored by Dr Keith Dinnie and Geotourist CEO, Shaon Talukder, and an online event for Scottish tourism industry stakeholders. Building on existing links between Geotourist and the Scottish tourism industry, the digital storytelling tours will be hosted on the Geotourist platform and generate data bespoke to each of the 20 project partners. Under the supervision of Dr Dinnie, interviews will be conducted with the partners to assess the potential for Geotourist to deliver economic and social benefits to organisations and their destinations. As part of Scotland’s inward investment strategy, the Scottish Government has identified tourism as a key driver for future growth in economic development with data-driven approaches key to increased visitor numbers and revenues.
https://futurescot.com/new-tourism-data-initiative-to-help-industry-recover-from-pandemic/