Business News Round Up (21/11/2024)
Public sector paw deals help drive up UK borrowing
Government borrowing was much higher than expected in October, as debt interest payments hit a record high and public sector pay rises contributed to higher spending. Borrowing – the difference between spending and tax take – stood at £17.4bn last month, the second highest October figure since monthly records began in 1993. The borrowing figures are the first to be released since Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget last month. “October’s disappointing public finances figures underline the fiscal challenge that the chancellor still faces,” said Alex Kerr, UK economist at Capital Economics. Jessica Barnaby, deputy director for public sector finances at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said: “Despite the cut in the main rates of National Insurance earlier in 2024, total receipts rose on last year. However, with spending on public services, benefits and debt interest costs all up on last year, expenditure rose faster than revenue overall.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gx70djyg7o
Hospitality firms demand business rates relief
Hundreds of business leaders have backed the Scottish Hospitality Group’s (SHG’s) call for business rates relief in the Scottish Government budget. Businesses such as Buzzworks, McGinty’s Group and Culloden House are among the 444 restaurants, pubs, and hotels which have signed SHG’s open letter calling on the Scottish Government to support the sector. The letter urges Finance Secretary Shona Robison to reduce the business rates poundage to 35p for all licensed hospitality premises without a cap when she presents the budget on 4 December. It also calls on the Government to make good on its commitment to find a more equitable long-term replacement for the business rates system ahead of revaluations in 2026. The sector says it is unfairly penalised by the current system because hospitality businesses pay rates based on their turnover while other sectors, such as retail, pay business rates based on their square footage.
University-led £4.9 million initiative to turbocharge North West England’s cyber ambitions
The University of Cumbria is a partner in a major new project, which will fuel the potential of the North West cyber sector to keep the UK at the forefront of cutting-edge cyber security. CyberFocus is one of seven new projects supported through an overall funding package of £22million from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Place Based Impact Acceleration Account scheme to strengthen emerging and existing research and innovation clusters to kickstart economic growth and address regional needs. Developing trusted partnerships between academia, industry, and civic bodies, CyberFocus will strengthen and deliver strategic investments in the region’s cyber ‘ecosystem’. The North West has one of the largest clusters of cyber security businesses outside London with around 300 companies in the sector. The region’s strength in cyber is also benefitting from the arrival of GCHQ in Manchester and the imminent arrival of the National Cyber Force in Lancashire.
CBI says ‘now is the time’ to put Scottish business on the map
CBI Scotland has stated that with record levels of devolved funding from Westminster announced in the UK Budget, “there is no time to waste“ in building momentum to achieve long-term growth. In its Scottish Budget submission, the trade body also argued that it is an opportune time to embark on new period of collaboration between the Scottish and UK governments, in partnership with business. Mags Simpson, interim director of CBI Scotland, said: “If the Scottish Government is serious about growth, it must get to grips with the sluggish investment that has plagued the economy in recent decades and tackle Scotland’s underperforming business investment which, as a share of GDP, lags the rest of the UK’s. The Budget, and accompanying tax strategy, must focus on addressing uncompetitive tax policies that are acting as a handbrake on growth.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/cbi-says-now-time-put-34148599