Business News Round Up (17/04/2026)
Glasgow City Council owed nearly £89m in unpaid business rates
Glasgow City Council is owed nearly £89 million in unpaid business rates, a figure that has grown sharply in recent years. The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request by The Herald, show the council has billed £1.4 billion in non-domestic rates, or business rates, across the four financial years from 2021-22 to 2024-25. Just over 6%, or £88,799,117.54, remains uncollected. The annual shortfall has worsened considerably as £16.6m was outstanding for 2021-22, rising to £20.6m in 2022-23, £21m in 2023-24, and £30m in 2024-25. The council acknowledged that the spike in the most recent year may be partly attributable to the changes to Empty Property Relief (EPR), which granted businesses in listed buildings 100% exemption from business rates in perpetuity.
Reeves urged not to delay energy support scheme
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has cut some green levies on manufacturing firms to help them meet higher energy bills arising from the Iran War. Ms Reeves last year announced a 25% cut in electricity costs for more than 7,000 UK businesses and has now expanded this to cover a further 3,000 firms. The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) exempts these businesses from certain extra charges that currently support green energy. It is expected to be worth up to £600 million per year from next April. Companies operating in the automotive, aerospace, steel, and pharmaceuticals sectors are among the those that will benefit, though there have been calls for the support to be applied immediately.
Renewable UK: Expanding onshore wind supply chain could add £56 billion to UK economy
A new report commissioned by RenewableUK shows that expanding the UK’s onshore wind supply chain between now and 2050 could add up to £56 billion in economic value (GVA) to the UK’s economy and create thousands of new jobs throughout the country. Adding this £56 billion to the £98 billion which will be generated by our current onshore wind supply chain between now and 2050 (as long as government policy remains supportive) would bring a total of £154 billion in GVA for the UK. The onshore wind supply chain capability assessment by consultants Everoze highlights key parts of the supply chain which would provide the most value to the UK’s economy. These include manufacturing more onshore wind turbine blades, towers and steelwork, nacelles, drivetrains, cables, and electrical equipment for high voltage substations in the UK for onshore wind farms here and abroad.
RBS: employment grows but rising costs subdue activity in March
A second month of employment growth offered some positivity during a modest month of business activity in March in Scotland. Despite increased staffing costs, businesses across all sectors reported an upshift in recruitment as Q1 2026 came to an end. But global economic challenges throughout the month led to a rise in higher energy and fuel costs, with private sector companies substantially affected. According to the latest headline Royal Bank of Scotland Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of Scotland’s manufacturing and service sectors – fell to 50.1 in March from 50.9 in February, to indicate only a fractional rise in output. Growth in private sector output also slowed notably at the UK level in March (index at 50.3).