Business News Round Up (22/08/2025)
Report highlights Glasgow City Region deal progress
Ten years on from the launch of the Glasgow City Region’s £1.13 billion City Deal, the latest performance report sets out significant progress across City Deal delivery and key initiatives under the Regional Economic Strategy. Funded by the UK and Scottish Governments, the Deal, one of the largest and most advanced in the UK, has delivered over £550 million in local infrastructure investment to date across the eight local council areas and is estimated to have attracted more than £880m worth of follow-on investment since 2014. Projects delivered through the City Deal include the Govan-Partick Bridge which has recorded over one million crossings in its first year of operation, while just further down the Clyde the Renfrew Bridge has begun welcoming pedestrians and vehicles, both projects unlocking new opportunities for investment and regeneration.
Major retailers urge Reeves to tackle business rates with ‘meaningful relief’
More than 60 chief executives from Britain’s biggest retailers have written to the Chancellor ahead of the Autumn Budget warning against any further tax rises and demanding relief through the business rates system. They caution that further tax rises could push up prices, cost jobs, and undermine the Government’s pledge to raise living standards. In the letter, coordinated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), bosses from chains including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Aldi, Lidl, John Lewis, and Primark said government policy had already added £7bn in new costs this year. Also signing the letter are major North West retailers including: Nigel Murray, Managing Director, Booths; Tarsem Dhaliwal, CEO, Iceland; Regis Schultz, CEO, JD Sports; and Tim Bettley, Managing Director, The Original Factory Shop. They cite higher employer National Insurance, rising labour costs, and a new packaging tax.
“British exporters are navigating global trade turbulence well” – latest data revealed from The UK Trade Barometer
British exporters weathered the global trade storm in Q2, according to The UK Trade Barometer, but sales softened amid geopolitical tensions. The barometer surveys more than 2,000 businesses about their export performance over the past three months and their expectations for the quarter ahead. MAG’s East Midlands Airport is believed to be the UK’s largest express air freight hub. It recently reported a 17.4% growth in cargo volumes it handled over the last three months compared to May-July 2024. The barometer shows 35% broke into a new market in Q2, compared with 47% in Q1. Looking forward, 20% expect to enter a new market in the next three months, broadly flat against Q1 (21%). East Midlands firms grew their global footprint the most, with 58% entering a new market for the first time. That compared with 46% in the West Midlands. Only the North West was higher, at 68%.
Scotland relies increasingly on fiscal transfers – like other regions outside South East England
Last week, the Scottish Government published its latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report for 2024–25. It estimates total government revenue raised in Scotland, total public spending benefiting Scotland (including a per-capita share of UK-wide spending on things such as debt interest, defence and foreign aid), and the gap between them. This gap – Scotland’s net fiscal balance – represents the borrowing the UK government undertakes on Scotland’s behalf. Like all economic statistics, GERS statistics involve some uncertainty and are backward-looking – so they do not predict future trends or reflect the policy choices different governments might make. But as Accredited Official Statistics they are independently assessed as being methodologically sound and free from political interference. And they are widely recognised as a sensible starting point for assessing the kind of fiscal situation that an independent Scotland would initially face – for example, by the SNP’s Sustainable Growth Commission of 2016–18.