Business News Round Up (17/02/2022)
Edinburgh and Glasgow retail centres among the UK’s most resilient
Edinburgh’s iconic Jenners department store and Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries may have changes of use ahead of them, but new analysis from Knight Frank indicates Scotland’s two largest cities are among the most resilient retail centres in the UK. The independent commercial property consultancy’s research found that Edinburgh had the most productive retail space of any major UK city outside of London, with the Scottish capital achieving a ‘sales density’ of £665 per sq. ft. prior to the opening of the St. James Quarter. Glasgow was close behind, with £611 per sq. ft, against an average of £329 per sq. ft. across 39 UK cities analysed. A higher sales density figure indicates strong levels of productivity, while a low number suggests under-performance and/or an oversupply of retail space. Edinburgh and Glasgow also performed well on other key measures assessing the health of retail destinations. Glasgow city centre has seen retail rents re-base just -1.9% over the last 10 years, while Edinburgh was -12.5% against a UK cities’ average of -35.2%. Last year, the vacancy rates in both cities were also below the UK cities’ average of 20.3%, at just 13% for Edinburgh and 18.7% for Glasgow.
Record levels of investment for UK’s £10.1 billion cyber security sector
Britain’s tech sector continues to break records as new government data shows more than 1,800 cyber security firms generated a total of £10.1 billion in revenue in the most recent financial year, a 14 per cent increase from the previous financial year. The DCMS Annual Cyber Sector Report, which tracks the growth and performance of the UK’s cyber security industry, reveals the sector contributed around £5.3 billion to the UK economy in 2021, rising by a third on the previous year from £4 billion – the largest increase since the report began in 2018. Employment across the industry rose by 13 per cent, with more than 6,000 new jobs created, opening up new opportunities for people up and down the UK to join the sector and share its wealth. This brings the total number of people working in cyber in the UK to 52,700. There were 1,838 active cyber security firms in the UK in 2021. More than half are based outside of London and the South East, with cyber security showing growth in the North East and East Midlands. The report highlights this move could be a result of remote working increasing regional opportunities.
Business confidence in Scotland lowest in UK, survey finds
Confidence among Scottish business has dropped to the lowest level in the UK, a survey found. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) report, released on Thursday, interviewed 55 chartered accountants in Scotland to assess the level of confidence of improving economic returns in the next 12 months. On a scale between 100 and minus 100, Scotland’s confidence was found to be 16.3 for the first quarter of 2022, as a result of the interviews, down from 42.2 in the previous quarter. The national figure stood at 27.6. Some 49% of businesses said staff turnover was a growing challenge for them, while 48% cited the availability of non-management skills. And 38% told the institute regulatory issues – potentially thrown up as a result of Covid-19 or Brexit – were a growing issue.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/business-confidence-scotland-lowest-uk-26253808
BCC research finds little love for EU trade deal
New research carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce of more than 1,000 businesses has highlighted a host of issues with the UK’s trade deal with Europe. The BCC believes urgent steps should be taken to address these problems so the UK Government’s ambition to increase the number of firms exporting can be met. Overall, just 8% of firms agreed that the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) was ‘enabling their business to grow or increase sales’, while 54% disagreed. For UK exporters 12% agreed that the TCA was helping them while 71% disagreed. When asked to comment on the specific advantage (for those that agreed) or disadvantage (for those that disagreed) of the trade deal, 59 firms identified an advantage, while 320 cited a disadvantage. Of the 59 comments received on the advantage of the TCA, firms said: It had allowed some companies to continue to trade without significant change; It had encouraged firms to look at other global markets; It had provided stability to allow firms to plan.
https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/news/2022/02/bcc-research-finds-little-love-for-eu-trade-deal