Business News Round Up (20/01/2025)
Boost for Labour as IMF upgrades growth forecast
Britain’s economy is expected to grow more quickly than previously forecast, and ahead of Germany, France, Italy and the eurozone, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its upgrade to the UK’s GDP to 1.6% this year from 1.5% predicted in October will be welcome news for the Labour government. Its report also criticised plans by Donald Trump to introduce large-scale tax cuts, import tariffs and weaker regulations that could prove inflationary. While upgrading the UK, the report says growth will remain well behind the US, Canada and Spain and the data shows it saw weaker growth last year than the organisation had forecast, up by 0.9% last year against its previous forecast of 1.1%. It expects the Bank of England to cut interest rates four times this year, reducing the headline rate from 4.75% to 3.75%, a move given wider support after last week’s fall in inflation to 2.5%.
Two Scottish cities listed in top 10 for average salaries in UK
New research has unveiled that two cities in Scotland are among just seven in the UK outside of the Greater South East region where workers have above-average salaries. Research by the Centre for Cities think tank found average annual salaries in London are now £13,800 above the average salary for Scots workers. The Cities Outlook 2025 report – which looked at the UK’s 63 largest towns and cities – found Edinburgh and Aberdeen are among just seven cities in the UK outside of the Greater South East region where salaries are above the UK average. Figures showed Londoners have the highest weekly wage in the UK as they earned an average of £950.20 a week in 2024 and earn by September what most people in Scotland make in a year. The report found workers in Edinburgh earn an average of £785.50 a week, while those in Aberdeen pocket £765.80.
Survey points to return of active office working
Regional REIT, the regional office specialist, claims office active occupation is now ahead of the pre-pandemic level as companies encourage staff back to the office. The company claims current active office occupation has increased to 75.3% from 71.4% (February 2024), above pre-pandemic active occupancy, estimated at 70%. It also claims that staff are in now in the office for an average of 4 days per week. The survey is just the latest contribution to an active debate shaping government policy and rippling through every workplace in the country. A BBC Panorama programme out today has shown that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the way we work has been transformed, with many more of us working from home.
Boost for Scottish local council cyber defences with launch of £13 million ‘security operations centre’ procurement
Scottish local councils are set to benefit from the launch of a collaborative security operations centre tender to boost cyber defences. Scotland Excel – the local government procurement body – has issued a procurement framework which all 32 councils across the country will be eligible to join, in a bid to strengthen their online security postures. The £13 million procurement exercise is launched in cooperation with the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government – the digital transformation partner for local councils. A prior information notice (PIN), issued last week, reads: “We are looking for a partner(s) who can help implement and monitor a managed security operations centre solution(s), and respond to security events as they arise. This solution will be a common platform to provide visibility of security events from multiple sources in both the cloud and on-premises environment of the contracting local authority.”