Business News Round Up (24/06/2021)

UK small businesses set out requirements for a return to the office

Small businesses may be returning to the workplace, but many want to re-create the home comforts that got them through a year of home-working during lockdown. From fresh coffee to cooking from scratch in a full-kitted kitchen, to putting on a wash between meetings – as well as the daily ritual of a lunch-time dog walk – so many habits from lockdown will change the face of office working in the months ahead. With the swift roll-out of the COVID vaccine across the UK – and around half of small business owners (46%) anticipating their staff will be working from an office or official workplace by the end of the year – the new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance shows that small businesses plan to work from a range of work environments after June. Further, for those that do plan a return to the office, the 9-5 working day will be far from the average that people were used to before COVID. The Hitachi Capital study asked 1,032 small business leaders if they were planning to return staff to the workplace in the months ahead and, if so, what would be the essential features of the workplace going forward.

Think-tank Fraser of Allander ups forecast for Scottish economic growth

The vaccine rollout and unlocking of parts of the Scottish economy are hugely positive but the delay in a further easing of Covid-19 restrictions will cause “issues” for certain sectors. That is the message in the latest Economic Commentary from Strathclyde University’s Fraser of Allander (FoA) Institute. The pace of reopening the Scottish economy, thanks to a swift vaccine rollout, has prompted the think-tank to raise its forecast for economic growth north of the border this year to 5.9%, from 3.6% previously. FoA’s Deloitte-sponsored report adds: “We are now expecting that the economy will return the pre-pandemic levels in the summer of 2022, three months earlier than we were forecasting in March.” The report says that while recent pauses in the roadmap to ease restrictions have been challenging, particularly for those sectors and regions hardest hit by the pandemic, the Scottish economy has seen “significant opening up” since late April. This has been facilitated by vaccine deployment, which has already seen 82% of the adult population receive their first dose, FoA adds.

Half of region’s businesses say new EU rules have disrupted business

Half of Liverpool City Region’s business community say their organisation has been disrupted as a result of the UK’s new trading relationship with the EU. More than a third (36%) of businesses also say they are worried about recruiting from the EU as a result of new rules relating to immigration from the Euro Zone. The research, carried out by Growth Platform’s Post-EU Exit Transition Service, also found that more than a third (36%) of regional businesses said they could be forced to cease trading as a result of the new trading relationship with the EU, with in excess of 50% saying the new rules could even restrict their growth. However, the research did show some positive signs, with 70% saying they felt their business was fully compliant with new EU trading rules, with a further 50% believing that the new trading relationship offered opportunities for their business.

UK business activity extends Covid recovery

Britain´s private sector business activity continues to expand at a near-record pace as the economy reopens from Covid lockdown, a key survey showed on Wednesday. The composite purchasing managers´ index (PMI) slowed only slightly to 61.7 points in June, compilers IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply said in a statement. The figure held significantly above the key 50 level to indicate strong expansion after a record performance in May. IHS Markit added that businesses took on new staff at an “unprecedented rate” at the end of the second quarter but warned also over growing inflationary pressures. The PMI had already soared in May to 62.9, hitting the highest level since the index began in 1998, as manufacturing and services strengthened on easing Covid-19 curbs.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/854085-uk-business-activity-extends-covid-recovery