Business News Round Up (17/11/2022)
UKEF upgrades support for SMEs to boost global exporting ambitions
UK Export Finance has launched a new product to help support SMEs through challenging market conditions. Announced by Minister for Exports Andrew Bowie, at UKEF’s annual Finance Forum, the new Bills and Notes product is now open to guarantee payments by overseas buyers. The product will be available to more financial institutions with a simpler, more streamlined process. The announcement came almost a year to the day of the Government’s launch of its export strategy and the concrete target of getting UK PLC to 1 trillion pounds of export sales. Bills and Notes are a standard method of payment where money is due under bills of exchange or promissory notes. UKEF has now improved its offer to enable overseas buyers of UK goods to benefit from extended payment terms structured using these methods. Simply put it means small UK businesses can get paid more quickly and easily for their exports. This helps with crucial cash flow and liquidity. As part of its wider package of support for SMEs, it is the latest announcement by UKEF in its mission to remove barriers to trade. Through partnerships with specialist lenders, UKEF can now support a greater range of UK exporters – including those with smaller transactions – by arranging tailored, deferred payment facilities for companies worldwide.
Homes plan for Glasgow’s ‘obsolete’ office space
Many of Glasgow’s older office buildings should be converted into city centre homes, a report has suggested. Research found such properties were falling out of favour with businesses with smaller firms often favouring flexible, managed workspaces. Overall demand for office space is also lower since the Covid pandemic due to a shift to home or hybrid working. Glasgow has set itself a target of doubling the number of people living in its city centre to 40,000 by 2035. The report, commissioned by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the city council, found that Covid lockdown restrictions “decimated city centre office working, retail and leisure custom, cultural and educational activity”. After restrictions were lifted, a shift to home or hybrid working meant Scottish cities are now thought to be using about 25% less office space, according to the report by consultants Ryden. Glasgow city centre has about 400 pre-1960s office buildings, which are becoming less attractive to businesses. The report described many of them as “obsolete” as offices but suggested they could be repurposed to deliver about 2,500 city centre homes, for up to 5,000 people. The area to the south of Sauchiehall Street has some of the greatest potential.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63649014
HVMC signs MOU with Greater Manchester to provide £1.7bn manufacturing
High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC) will provide a £1.7bn manufacturing boost which will expand and diversify the Greater Manchester Economy, according to new research. This includes the attraction and retention of an additional £1.2bn high tech foreign direct investment (FDI). Yesterday (15 November 2022), HVM Catapult, Innovation Greater Manchester and Greater Manchester Combined Authority have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help manufacturing businesses improve their productivity through supporting research and development. The Greater Manchester area is in the bottom 20% for public sector spending on R&D and in the bottom third of peers for how many tech-enabled firm headquarters there are with specialisms in key manufacturing and industry sectors. The HVM Catapult will support Great Manchester in attracting and retaining high-growth companies in critical sectors such as pharma, materials and agri-food and med-tech, who at present account for circa 15% of the local business base. This collaboration could double the size of these sectors in the Greater Manchester area and provide a further 15,000 gross jobs over the next decade if the region matches the manufacturing global growth rate.
SSE invests four times more than it makes in profit
SSE has reported adjusted profit after tax of £450m, up from £111m at the same point in 2021, in its half-year results. The report covering the six months ended 30 September also shows earnings per share of 41.8p, in line with pre-close guidance. Full year guidance is unchanged from May, with earnings of at least 120p expected. The board has therefore recommended an interim dividend of 29p, payable on 9 March. The Perth-headquartered electricity infrastructure company also claimed to have invested almost four times as much as it made in profits. The interim results show that a record £1.7bn – up from £1bn year-on-year – was invested in boosting energy security and sustainability. Adjusted operating profits stood at £716m at the end of September, up from £376m the previous year. Strong performance of the thermal energy business – which includes flexible gas-fired power stations and gas storage facilities – was one of the main contributors to overall profits. SSE has approximately 40% of the UK’s onshore underground gas storage capacity. Performance was also strong in the group’s regulated networks businesses, which continue to connect new generation assets to the grid. Chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies commented: “We have delivered a good strategic and financial performance reflecting the strength of our business model. This has enabled us to invest far more than we earn – building and operating the clean homegrown energy infrastructure that will provide a sustainable solution to the current energy crisis.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/company-results-forecasts/sse-invests-four-times-more-28507129