Business News Round Up (19/02/2021)
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Scotland’s economy sees ‘significant benefits’ from hundreds of business – academic partnerships
Local, national, and international businesses have gained from tapping into universities and colleges through the service, which has team members located across the country. The contribution to the Scottish economy from research and development projects between businesses and academics enabled by Interface was almost £89 million gross value added (GVA), while supporting 1,595 jobs, with expectations to reach more than £222m GVA, and some 3,200 jobs. Carried out by economic consultancy Biggar Economics, the report drew on evidence from a range of sources including the 329 collaborative projects which Interface brokered from August 2019 to July 2020, along with in-depth interviews with businesses that have benefited from the free service. The findings also captured the wider wellbeing and environmental benefits to society as the collaborative projects tackled major challenges such as health improvement, low carbon, community support, delivering education, helping young people, supporting international development, and alleviating poverty.
North West business ecosystem is ideal place for nurturing start-up and scale-up businesses, report shows
Manchester has been named as one of the highest performing tech hubs in the UK after new analysis reveals the city’s perfectly balanced start and scale-up business ecosystem. Research by scale-up support network, Tech Nation, has found that cities and regions with the ideal ‘scale ratio’ are more likely to attract significant investment, and this ratio is reflected in the proportions of seed, early growth and late growth businesses operating in Manchester and the wider North West region. According to Tech Nation’s research, regions with 50% seed, 30% early growth and 20% late growth firms indicate a mature, balanced ecosystem which accelerates the growth of late-stage companies while supporting the next wave of tech scale-ups.
Scottish businesses expect to recover this year after a tough 2020
The proportion of companies in Scotland reporting late payments as a growing problem has increased over the last 12 months from 18% to just over a third. This is according to the latest ICAEW Business Confidence Monitor, which showed that domestic sales and exports have seen the biggest falls since the survey in began 2004. The chartered accountancy body polled 52 Chartered Accountants based in Scotland between 19 October and 15 January 2021, alongside more than 1,000 across the UK. Those in Scotland reported that domestic sales fell 3.5% year-on-year, the sharpest rate of decline across the UK, while exports fell by 1.7% in the same period. More businesses in Scotland are operating below capacity than anywhere else in the UK, the survey showed.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-businesses-expect-recover-year-23524379
93% of employers in Greater Manchester ‘concerned’ about mental wellbeing of employees working from home
New data from real estate consultancy OBI has revealed that nearly 100% of business leaders surveyed across Manchester have expressed concerns around how their employees’ mental health is faring during the latest lockdown and bout of working from home. The report, titled the future of work and our city, surveyed 100 business owners or managers in leadership positions in offices from a variety of sectors across the city region. Respondents with younger workforces were particularly worried about how working from home has impacted their teams, as they continue to miss out on crucial mentoring and development ‘face time’.