Business News Round Up (24/01/2022)
Edinburgh shops among biggest victims of Covid
Edinburgh has emerged as one of the four UK cities whose high streets have been the worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic because of their higher rents and the lack of office workers. The capital joins central London, Birmingham and Cardiff among those cities which have lost more than a third of their potential takings since March 2020. Across Scotland, city centres have seen more than half a year’s worth of potential takings disappear, according to Cities Outlook 2022 by the Centre for Cities. Central Edinburgh is worst affected, losing 43 weeks of sales between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset. Businesses in Glasgow and Aberdeen city centres are also hard hit. Dundee’s city centre lost the fewest weeks of sales (32 weeks) in Scotland. The study looked at 52 city and town centres across the UK and found that 2,426 commercial units have become vacant during the pandemic, against 1,374 between 2018 and 2020. Interestingly, high streets in economically weaker places have been less impacted by Covid-19, while in economically stronger places, business closures increased.
Small firms look to growth but concerned by staffing and rising costs, survey finds
Most small firms plan to grow over the coming year but are concerned by struggles to recruit, increasing costs and a lack of access to finance, a new report says. The Small Business Index compiled by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) found that just over half (54%) of the 1,200 businesses surveyed expect to grow over the next year, higher than the last survey the organisation carried out before pandemic. Job creation numbers are also at their highest in a number of years, but more than three-quarters of firms (78%) said their costs were rising and 40% said that profits were being hit by inflationary pressures. In addition, fewer than one in 10 firms applied for finance in the last quarter, the lowest level for seven years, while only 45% of those that did apply had bids for funding approved, another long-time low. Those factors led to UK small business confidence being marked at -8.5 in the last quarter of 2021, a 12-month low.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/small-firms-look-growth-concerned-22837067
UK services economy withstands Omicron plan B assault
Britain’s services economy has stood strong in the face of the re-emergence of curbs on daily life in a bid to clamp down on the Omicron variant, reveals a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the UK services industry came in at 53.3 for January, a marginal dip from December. Despite dropping to an 11-month low, the reading has not tumbled as much as had been feared when the UK government launched plan B measures at the beginning of December. Guidance to work from home was dropped last week, while remaining curbs will end on Thursday, indicating services firms are ready to reap a windfall from Brits picking up from where they left off before plan B was imposed. A reading above 50 indicates a majority of services businesses grew in January despite the month being mired in Covid-19 restrictions.
Impact of pandemic has ravaged North West city Centres
According to a new report published today (January 24), COVID-19 has cost some city and large town centres in the North West more than half a year’s worth of potential takings since March 2020. The claim is in Cities Outlook 2022 – independent urban policy research think tank Centre for Cities’ annual economic assessment of the UK’s largest urban areas. Central Manchester is worst affected, losing 41 weeks of sales between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset. Its loss is the sixth biggest in the country. The share of vacant commercial units in Manchester city centre has also increased during the pandemic and now stands at 14.6%. This means that more one in 10 stores in the city centre are now sitting empty. Meanwhile, COVID-19 has cost businesses in Liverpool city centre 26 weeks’ worth of potential takings since March 2020. The share of vacant commercial units in Liverpool city centre increased and now stands at 11.6%.