Business News Round Up (22/04/2021)

Fewer than one in 10 Scottish mid-market businesses expect a full return to the office

Fewer than one in 10 (8%) mid-market businesses in Scotland believe a return to full-time office working post-pandemic will be best for their people. Professional services firm Grant Thornton surveyed 603 senior decision-makers in UK mid-market businesses during March – 50 of which were based in Scotland. The UK mid-market is defined as businesses with an annual turnover of between £50m and £500m. A hybrid split between home and office was cited as the best model by most (74%). However, of these, just 14% expect their workforce to be spending the majority of their time in the office, with more than a third (38%) believing it will be most effective for their employees to work from home most of the time.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/fewer-one-10-scottish-mid-23954848

North West suffers ‘most alarming rise’ of companies in significant financial distress, says report

The North West saw the “most alarming” increase in businesses entering financial distress during the first three months of 2021, according to new figures from Begbies Traynor. The firm’s latest Red Flag Alert for the first quarter shows that 70,496 businesses could be classed in financial distress, up 18% from 59,915 during the final three months of 2020. Begbies Traynor added that Northern Ireland’s figures of 11,619, up from 9,822, was also “alarming” while businesses in London experienced a 46% year-on-year increase in significant financial distress, and a 14% quarter-on-quarter increase from 167,591 to 190,829. Overall, the research has recorded 723,000 businesses in significant financial distress after the largest numerical quarterly leap (93,000) recorded in the research since its new version was launched in 2014.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/professional-services/north-west-suffers-most-alarming-20440283

Government ‘is propping up’ 38,000 Scottish businesses at risk of insolvency

Government measures taken during the pandemic to keep businesses afloat appear to be delaying 38,000 Scottish businesses entering insolvency. A report from business rescue and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor revealed that there has been a 45% year-on-year rise in the early signs of financial distress, with 38,000 businesses affected. In the first quarter of 2021, ‘significant distress’ – which indicates early signs of financial problems – rose by 17% in Scotland, compared with the last quarter of 2020. Yet, there was a decrease in the number of instances of when a company faced winding up petition or decrees totalling more than £5,000 against them. It showed the government’s insolvency measures were having an impact, with the number among Scottish businesses falling by 48% year-on-year and 13% compared to the previous quarter.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/government-is-propping-up-38000-23955730

Manchester buoyed by office take-up momentum

Office take-up across Manchester has been buoyed by gradual momentum this year, according to new data, as the industry looks to move on from an “extremely challenging” year. The Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF) – which comprises commercial property agencies across the city – show that deals completed during Q1 2021 reached 234,258 sq ft across 42 transactions. Although this was slightly below Q4 2020’s total of 349,513 sq ft, it “continued the general recovery”. MOAF noted that the trend was mirrored in South Manchester, where take-up totalled 92,797 sq ft, in line with the prior period’s 94,838 sq ft and well above Q3’s total of 39,174 sq ft. Salford Quays also showed further signs of positivity, where take-up hit 66,877 sq ft from Q4 2020’s 52,626 sq ft. Notable deals included the Ministry of Justice taking 24,548 sq ft at the Redfern Building, Orega taking 29,864 sq ft at Arkwright House and Brabners taking 20,239 sq ft at 100 Barbirolli.

https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-west/manchester-buoyed-by-office-take-up-momentum