Business News Round Up (23/11/2021)
Scottish business confidence climbs to highest ever level
Business confidence in Scotland has climbed to its highest-ever level, amid a recovery in sales and expectations of more gains to come, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The fourth quarter Business Confidence Monitor for Scotland for Q4 2021, from chartered accountancy body ICAEW, found that respondents were at their most confident since the research began in 2004. The accountancy body put the high sentiment down to a recovery in sales over the past year since the easing of Covid restrictions, with expected further increases in the coming months. Businesses in Scotland saw their domestic sales rise by 2.8% year-on-year, while exports rose by 1.3%. More growth is expected, and domestic sales are forecast to rise by 5.6% in the year to the fourth quarter of 2022. Export growth is also projected to pick up at 4.4% – a stronger outlook than the UK average. As the economic recovery continues, businesses said that they planned to increase staff levels at the highest rate seen in three years. Average salaries were also forecast to increase, following very limited growth during the pandemic, as labour market conditions tighten.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-business-confidence-climbs-highest-25517283
Investment in early stage innovative companies
The first quarter of 2021 has seen record investment in early-stage businesses – with tech and green energy standing out and innovation grants playing a big part as public and private capital work together. It’s just what the UK needs, says Henry Whorwood. During ‘normal’ times, high-growth companies play a crucial part in developing an economy and supporting job creation. But it’s fair to say these are not normal times – pictures a few weeks ago of Royal Navy ships patrolling the waters around Jersey (hopefully) confirmed that fact. To get through the challenges of Brexit and COVID-19, entrepreneurial spirit must be encouraged – a culture supporting growth nurtures businesses as they develop from start-up and grow revenue, profits, and employment. This will be fundamental to the UK, boosting the economy and helping to shape the technologies of the future. Success will breed success.
New report outlines value of Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland
New research has highlighted the value Scottish employers place on Graduate Apprenticeships (GAs). Independent research body, the Edge Foundation, has published a report called Graduate Apprenticeships: Developing Scotland’s Future Workforce, which found that GAs have a ‘critical’ role in driving economic growth, productivity and responding to future skills needs, with employers demanding more work-based learning opportunities. The study examines the current supply and asks if this is enough to sustain and respond to the future of the labour market. Researchers found that Graduate Apprenticeships are valued by both employers and learners, while recommending some changes around flexibility, funding, and the broadening of disciplines available, to help strengthen the system in Scotland. Graduate Apprenticeships have been available in Scotland since 2017, offering a blend of academic and work-based approaches where the apprentice learns while being a paid employee.
Levelling up: economic clusters outside London can fix the UK’s ‘branch line economy’, says the CBI
The Government can have a “shot at redemption” in levelling up the UK by using four levers to deliver economic growth, according to the CBI. High-value sectors such as the car industry, successful individual companies, a focus on skills and investment in the regions can all help to boost productivity, according to the body’s director general Tony Danker. Speaking at the CBI’s annual conference at the Port of Tyne in South Shields, Mr Danker said the country has had to live with the consequences of “offering little more than benign neglect” while “chasing an economic policy that was ambivalent about levelling down”. With the most productive parts of the economy and company headquarters too often based in London and the South East, he said, the UK is operating as a “branch line economy”. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, London ranks number one in 13 out of 17 sectors for productivity, while the South East has a top-three ranking in 13.