Business News Round Up (20/07/2023)
UK economy to receive £1 billion boost through innovative trade digitalisation act
A new law allowing shipping containers to be traded using digital documents, not paper ones, has been created after the Electronic Trade Documents Act received Royal Assent today (Thursday 20 September). The simple yet impactful change is estimated to add over £1 billion to the British economy over the next decade by making trade more straightforward, efficient, and sustainable. Paul Scully, Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy said: “The global container shipping industry generates billions of paper documents a year – and in reality there’s no need for the immense costs UK businesses have to face in producing them, and the detrimental environmental impact that this has. What may look to many of us as a small change to the law is something that will have a massive impact on the way UK firms trade, and in turn, is going to boost our economy by over £1 billion over the next decade.” Existing laws dating back to the 1800s previously meant that exporters and importers have to use paper documents to transfer ownership of the goods they are shipping – creating a costly, inefficient, and outdated way of working. The government estimates that the new law could generate a net benefit of £1.14 billion for the British economy over the next decade for UK businesses trading across the world, supporting the Prime Minister’s priority of growing the economy.
Rise in visitor numbers and spending in Scotland is ‘encouraging’, says minister
Tourist spending in Scotland in the first three months of this year was 70% higher than pre-Covid levels, “encouraging” figures have shown. Overseas visitors to Scotland spent a total of £359 million during the first quarter of 2023, with this up from £210 million in the same period of 2019.
Tourist spending in Scotland in the first three months of this year was 70% higher than pre-Covid levels, “encouraging” figures have shown. Overseas visitors to Scotland spent a total of £359 million during the first quarter of 2023, with this up from £210 million in the same period of 2019. Provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also showed the number of overnight visits made by people from outside the UK had also increased, rising from 443,000 in January to March 2019, to 572,000 in the first three months of 2023 – an increase of 29%. However, the number of overnight visits in both England and Wales was still below 2019 levels, the figures showed. In England, there were 6,956,000 overnight visits in the first three months of this year, down from 7,489,000 in the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, there were 151,000 overnight visitor stays in Wales in January to March, compared to 156,000 in the same period in 2019. The majority of visitors to Scotland in the first three months of this year were from Europe, with 407,000 spending at least one night here.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/rise-visitor-numbers-spending-scotland-30515304
Innovation district building set for approval
Plans for a new building at Manchester Science Park that could support hundreds of jobs looks set to get the go-ahead next week. The building will be home to UK Biobank, one of the world’s most significant sources of data and biological samples for health research.Manchester Science Park (MSP) is home to more than 150 businesses and is located in the heart of the Oxford Road Corridor innovation district. Bruntwood SciTech unveiled plans earlier this year for an additional 131,000 sq ft of specialist lab space. The plans represent the third phase of Bruntwood SciTech’s masterplan to grow the campus to one million sq ft following the completion of its purpose-built Industry 4.0 hub Base in July 2022. The existing Greenheys site is set to be redeveloped into a six-storey purpose-built lab space designed specifically for scaling life science businesses working in diagnostics, genomics, precision medicine and more. The new development would comprise a range of CL2 labs with supporting office space from 2,500 sq ft to 22,000 sq ft floors, with a BREEAM Excellent rating targeted. It is expected to achieve Net Zero Carbon in construction and operation in its shared spaces. When complete, the building is expected to accommodate about 730 FTE (full-time equivalent) jobs and generate £53.2m of GVA (gross value added).
Urgent reform of skills system needed for UK to hit net zero target warns academics, union and business leaders
A new report from the Future Energy Skills Programme – led jointly by Centrica and the GMB Trade Union – calls for bold action to reform the UK’s skills system and create the workforce needed to reach net zero by 2050. Technical and vocational training provision must be completely overhauled if the UK is to meet its net zero obligations, according to a new report from a group of leading voices from business, trade unions and academia that lays out key priorities for achieving an independent and carbon-free future for the country. The Skills for a Jobs Transition report from the Future Energy Skills Programme – which is co-headed by Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea and Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary – provides a 50-point plan designed to create the skills and careers the UK needs as it accelerates towards energy independence, while ensuring a fair and inclusive transition for the workforce of today. The report was produced with submissions gathered from parties including the Climate Change Committee, National Grid, Energy Systems Catapult, JCB, Rolls-Royce and the Association of Colleges. The document calls for a properly funded and more flexible education system that will allow new qualifications to be developed around emerging low-carbon technologies and sets out the need to destigmatise vocational training – particularly apprenticeships – to improve the status of green skills.