Business News Round Up (18/07/2023)
Scottish business leaders not sold on Investment Zones plan
Scottish business leaders still have doubts on the benefits of Investment Zones a year after they were announced, a survey has shown. Investment Zones were announced by then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as part of his ill-fated mini-UK Budget last year during Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership. Twelve zones were to be created across the UK, including one in Glasgow and another in North East Scotland, as part of the UK Government’s “Levelling Up” agenda. But Grant Thornton’s latest Business Outlook Tracker survey for Scotland shows that while almost three quarters of those polled (74%) understand what the UK Government’s Investment Zone policy is trying to achieve, only half (50%) believe the introduction of them will help towards the Levelling Up agenda, in comparison to the 68% UK national average. The survey showed a general feeling that Investment Zones could bring about positive change, with 66% of those polled believing that being located within one would help to support the local area through benefits such as job creation and skills development. More than half of respondents in Scotland (58%) believed there should be more than 12 zones across the UK. More generally, some 78% of Scottish business leaders were optimistic about their revenue growth whole some 82% were upbeat about their funding position. Stuart Preston, partner for Grant Thornton UK LLP in Scotland, said: “While there’s clearly some uncertainty about Investment Zones among business leaders in Scotland, it was great to hear that there’ll be targeted support for the Glasgow city region and the North East of Scotland, with up to £80m in targeted investment, tax reliefs and other incentives over five years. This should help our country progress and rival the economic performance of the South East of England. Areas such as Aberdeen – which has exciting plans for a knowledge intensive cluster at its university campus – has exactly the sort of socioeconomic profile that will benefit from being part of an Investment Zone and support the government’s levelling up ambitions.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-business-leaders-not-sold-30487328
New roadmap displays the £90bn potential for UK offshore energy supply chain
Detailed plans to help make sure more UK companies build and deliver the changes required to deliver a net zero energy system of the future have been published for the first time today. Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), together with Robert Gordon’s University (RGU), has produced a roadmap, entitled Harnessing the Potential, that outlines how the UK can support jobs, economic growth, and innovation, including in North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber where the offshore industry supports more than 15,000 jobs. The wider offshore energy sector, including oil and gas operators and wind developers, could invest up to £200bn on UK energy production and technology projects in the remainder of this decade to help deliver government energy targets. OEUK today reveals over £90bn of this could go to UK supply chain companies over the next decade if the roadmap is delivered and both government energy production and local content targets are met. The roadmap sets out detailed industry, government and regulatory action required in six key areas to build, enable, and then grow and sustain UK capabilities from 2022-2035. Ahead of major project decisions expected in the decade to come, it shows that with the right support, UK companies are well placed to win a bigger share of the work.
Santander: UK business expanding internationally could create 4,300 jobs in Glasgow
An estimated 1.9 million jobs would be created across the UK and businesses could add a third to their revenue if they were able to make a successful transition to new markets beyond the UK. In Glasgow alone, this could see a potential £735m revenue benefit with an additional 4,300 jobs being created. These figures are released today in a new report from Santander UK entitled “Unleashing UK businesses’ international growth potential “. The report outlines the potential growth for UK SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) through international expansion, and the barriers companies face when looking to take their business or products overseas. UK companies say the main benefits to international trade are an increase in profits followed by a diversified client base, improved business resilience and an enhanced brand. In separate research, Santander’s Spring Trade Barometer, 59% of companies that trade internationally report an improved performance over the past year compared to just 46% of those which do business solely in the UK. They are also more confident about increased growth, with 78% of these companies optimistic about growth over the next three years, versus 69% of domestic only businesses.
Scotland’s space sectors generated over £4 billion in turnover in 2022
According to ADS Group — the UK trade association for aerospace, security, defence, and space — Scotland’s aerospace and space sectors generated over £4 billion in turnover in 2022. These figures come from the trade association’s recently released 2023 Scotland Facts and Figures publication, which looked at the turnover, employment, and productivity value of the four aforementioned sectors. Specifically, Scotland’s space (i.e., outside of Earth’s atmosphere) sector saw a turnover of £3.1 billion, while its aerospace (both within and outside Earth’s atmosphere) sector yielded £1.1bn. Further, the Scottish defence sector’s turnover was £2bn in 2022, while security’s was £1.4bn. Overall, around £3.2bn in value add for the UK economy was driven by the four sectors in Scotland. In terms of employment, Scotland’s aerospace sector directly employs around 4,500 people, while the space sector employs 8,500. The defence sector, meanwhile, employs 13,250, while the figure for the security sector is 8,750. This totals around 33,500 direct employees, roughly 1,500 of whom are apprentices. The report also highlighted that the output per worker of the four Scottish sectors is estimated to be £95,000, 47% more than the whole of the UK economy productivity value.
https://www.digit.fyi/scotland-space-sectors-generated-over-4-billion-in-turnover-in-2022/