Business News Round Up (20/08/2026)
Rising energy costs push rate of inflation to 2.9%
UK inflation has risen as forecast to 2.9% for 12 months to July, driven by higher energy prices, the Office for National Statistics has announced. The rise compares with the rate of 2.6% for the year to June and is largely a result of energy regulator Ofgem’s 13% increase in the price cap on household gas and electricity bills which came into force on 1 July. The cap initially sheltered consumers from the surge in energy prices following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. Investec economist Ellie Henderson said the cap rise will have added 0.5% to inflation for July. Last month, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, said a rise in inflation was expected this year because of volatile oil and gas prices caused by the continuing conflict. Inflation eased earlier in the summer during a brief lull in hostilities between the US and Iran.
Boost for Scotland’s ‘AI Growth Zone’ with £300 million datacentre investment in Lanarkshire
Scotland’s nominated ‘AI Growth Zone’ has been boosted by a new £300 million datacentre investment programme in North Lanarkshire. DataVita, which operates the country’s largest Tier III certified datacentres between Glasgow and Edinburgh, will continue its planned expansion after agreeing the ‘debt facility’ with a syndicate of lenders. The facility is underpinned by a £202 million financial guarantee from the Leeds-headquartered ‘National Wealth Fund’, which will allow DataVita to expand its existing DV1 data centre and fund the construction of a new data centre, DV3. The capacity of both is contracted to AI cloud firm CoreWeave, the infrastructure provider to many of the world’s leading AI labs, under a 15-year lease agreement. The financing will enable the delivery of Scotland’s first AI data centres within a designated AI Growth Zone, strengthening sovereign AI capability and driving growth in the wider Glasgow city region.
Take-up of big box industrial space softens but rents ‘remain resilient’
Take-up of big box industrial space softened in the North West in the first half of the year, according to Savills, but grade A rents have grown. According to the latest Big Shed Briefing, take-up of big box industrial space in the region reached 1.28m sq-ft in the first half of the year, a drop of 15.5% on the same period in 2025 and 35% below the long-term pre-Covid average. Availability of space grew by 9.4% to 8.28m sq-ft, resulting in a vacancy rate of 8.46% and equivalent to approximately 20 months’ supply. The increase is largely down to second-hand units entering the market, with 1.77 million sq-ft of second-hand space becoming available. Demand from occupiers for top-tier buildings is clear, and the relative lack of high-quality space has resulted in an increase in the grade A quoting rent to £12.50 per sq-ft, up 14% on last year.
Scottish EDGE launches record £200k Accelerator Award
High-growth potential businesses across Scotland have two weeks to apply for the chance to compete for the largest single prize ever offered by a Scottish business pitching competition. The new £200,000 Accelerator EDGE Award has been introduced as part of Scottish EDGE Round 28, following a £1 million investment from Royal Bank of Scotland to support the programme over the next three years. The award complements Royal Bank of Scotland’s Accelerator Programme, which currently supports 1,000 businesses through its Accelerator Hubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Designed to back ambitious businesses with the potential to scale through innovation, it will sit alongside the existing £100,000 Scottish Enterprise-supported Future EDGE Award. The expanded award suite will also include a new £100,000 Scaling Innovation Award supported by Scottish Enterprise.
https://www.digit.fyi/scottish-edge-launches-record-200k-accelerator-award