Business News Round Up (23/05/2022)
Travel and tourism sector needs to fill 70,000 new roles
The travel and tourism sector in the UK is expected to create nearly 700,000 new jobs during the next decade. This staggering forecast from the renowned World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC ), shows an average of 70,000 new roles will need filling annually for the next 10 years despite a stuttering recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. According to the report, the UK’s travel and tourism’s contribution to GDP is forecasted to grow at an average rate of three per cent annually between 2022-2032. This is nearly twice the 1.7 per cent growth rate of the overall economy and is set to reach more than £286 billion (10.1 per cent of the total economy). Julia Simpson, WTTC president and chief executive, said: “Over the long term the future looks bright for the revival of the UK travel and tourism sector, but in the short term, international visitor spend is so low it is hampering the country’s economic recovery. After two years of economic damage to the sector, the UK government continues to take this sector for granted. There has been no focus or understanding of how critical Travel & Tourism is to the UK economy. Smart countries are investing overseas to get visitors back. Travel and tourism can contribute 10 per cent to the economy and yet it is not even discussed at senior levels. The UK will lose out to other European destinations if this isn’t addressed urgently.”
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/travel/travel-tourism-sector-needs-fill-24032987
Call for Scottish cities to gain special powers
Scotland’s biggest cities need tax raising powers, immigration to be devolved, an overhaul of business rates and major investment in connectivity to succeed in the future, according to a new report. A study of the so-called AGE cities – Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh – has found that the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and Brexit have combined to create a potentially “toxic” cocktail of change for urban Scotland. Scotland’s Urban AGE 2022 was commissioned by Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh Chambers of Commerce, together with Brodies and Anderson & Brown. Professor Brian Evans, head of urbanism at the Glasgow School of Art, led the research team and estimates that city inhabitants will soon outnumber rural dwellers for the first time in human history. He said that Scotland needs the AGE city regions “at the top of their game” if it is to remain globally competitive. “Cities need to be dynamic, or they decline,” he warns. Despite accounting for just 22% of Scotland’s land mass, these city regions house 68% of the population and account for 73% of the country’s GVA. However, these cities have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, which hollowed out shared spaces, devastated high streets and accelerated societal change. Together they lost 124 weeks of sales, more than any city in neighbouring England, due to Scotland’s stricter pandemic measures.
University’s £13m centre of excellence unveiled by Metro Mayor
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, is officially opening the University of Liverpool’s Digital Innovation Facility (DIF). DIF is a £12.7m Centre of Excellence in emerging digital technologies. Mayor Rotheram will be joined by tech entrepreneur and visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, Sir Robin Saxby for the event. Located on the university city centre campus, the DIF provides a purpose-built environment to support collaborations and partnerships between academics, industry, and organisations in the research areas of computer and data science, robotics, and engineering where the university has world class research capabilities. The 1,500 sq m facility includes state of the art laboratories featuring cutting edge equipment and highly skilled support to facilitate enhanced access for businesses and organisations that wish to collaborate with university experts across multiple technology areas including visualisation, robotics, artificial intelligence, data science, simulation, and modelling. Specialist labs in the DIF include a mixed reality lab containing the latest in VR technology and equipment, an extreme environment lab that simulates real world hazardous conditions for testing robotics and autonomous systems and an immersive laboratory that focuses on developing sensory technologies in areas of smell and touch for future ‘Tactile Internet’ applications.
Report calls for ‘reset’ of Scottish National Investment Bank
Ross Brown, professor in entrepreneurship and small business finance at the University of St Andrews’ School of Management has called for a full review of the Scottish National Investment Bank’s (SNIB) operations. In a new paper, released today by non-partisan think tank Reform Scotland, he lauds the concept of SNIB, but finds that more than a year after launch, its strategy, operation, and impact have only had “a very modest impact”. Among the report’s findings, Brown argues that the Scottish Government’s broad mission for SNIB has unintentionally prevented the company-specific investments it needed to make. It points out that only seven companies have received funding so far, creating “a very limited economic impact”. The paper also suggested that the government should consider channelling resources to SNIB from “poorly performing organisations such as Scottish Enterprise”.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/report-calls-reset-scottish-national-27021498