Business News Round Up (25/04/2023)
UK government borrowed less than expected last year
The government borrowed less than expected last year, despite spending heavily on helping with energy bills and facing higher borrowing costs. Borrowing, the difference between spending and tax income, was estimated at £139.2bn in the year to 31 March. That was less than had been predicted and gives ministers “wiggle room” for possible tax cuts ahead of the next election, one analyst said. The chancellor said the government was still borrowing “eye-watering sums”. The amount borrowed last year was equivalent to 5.5% of the value of the UK economy – the highest percentage since 2014, excluding the pandemic. However, the borrowing figure was lower than the £152bn predicted by the government’s forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, at the time of the Budget last month. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the government borrowed £21.5bn in March alone, the second-highest March figure since monthly records began in 1993. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “These numbers reflect the inevitable consequences of borrowing eye-watering sums to help families and businesses through a pandemic and [Vladimir] Putin’s energy crisis. We were right to do so because we have managed to keep unemployment at a near-record low and provided the average family more than £3,000 in cost-of-living support this year and last.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65377041
Revealed: the best areas of Scotland for remote work
West Dunbartonshire has been ranked as the best area of Scotland for remote workers, according to a study analysing several factors influencing remote workability. Free digital tool provider TinyWow analysed several factors including average internet download speeds, house prices, household energy and gas consumption, distance to green space and the proportion of houses with garden access. Each area was given a total score out of 100, with internet accessibility, home prices and energy consumption weighted as the most important factors within each area’s overall score for remote working. West Dunbartonshire was found to be the best area for remote working in Scotland, with an overall score of 75.53 out of 100. The area was found to have the country’s fastest internet speeds, averaging 154.8 Mbps download speeds, and a staggering 90% of homes were reported to have ultrafast broadband speeds of 100 Mbps or more. The area also scored well for affordable housing, offering the fourth lowest house prices in Scotland, at an average sale price of £137,869. West Dunbartonshire was also found to offer the shortest distance to public green space, with its residents being just 0.29 kilometres from the nearest park, public garden or playing field on average. North Lanarkshire ranked as Scotland’s second-best area for remote work. It offers the fifth fastest internet download speeds on average at 143.7 Mbps, and the fifth lowest house sale prices at £139,330 on average. The area also ranked as the fourth best for proximity to public green space, with homes being just 0.33 kilometres away from the nearest green space on average.
UK introduces long-delayed Digital Markets Legislation
The UK government is to introduce long-delayed legislation on Tuesday giving legal teeth to the Digital Markets Unit, set up in 2021 to provide greater oversight of dominant tech companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent Meta or Google, which are seen as stifling competition. Until now the unit, which operates as part of the Competition and Markets Authority, has had no legal footing to take action. That is set to change with the legislation giving the DMU the power to, for example, order the biggest tech firms to provide more choice and transparency to their customers. If firms don’t abide by the rules the DMU is to be given the power to fine them up to 10 percent of their global turnover. It is to be able to carry out targeted interventions into competition issues within digital markets, potentially opening up new paths for start-ups or smaller firms that previously struggled to grow and compete in these markets, the government said. The regulations will also allow the CMA to tackle issues such as firms colluding to increase prices and the industry around fake reviews. The proposals give the DMU powers to impose additional obligations on large tech firms considered as having “strategic market status”. This targets firms with entrenched market power in at least one digital activity and global sales in excess of £25 billion globally, or UK revenue above £1bn.
https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-regulation/uk-digital-markets-legislation-508279
UK cruise sector expecting record season in 2023
Cruise Britain has released data indicating that the UK cruise sector has successfully navigated its transition year following the global pause in operations and the initial restart period. While ‘Seacations’ proved to be a popular way to start up again in 2021 and 2022, the industry has now reached a point where it can start building again on the foundations laid in 2019. Cruise Britain believes it will be an unprecedented year for cruising in 2023. The UK boasts several well-known homeports like Southampton and Portsmouth, and its central location between Western Europe, the Canary Islands, Spain, France, and Norway makes it an attractive hub for guests and cruise lines. With 2022 setting the stage, the UK is on track for a record-breaking cruise year, according to a report from Cruise Britain released today, April 24. Despite the number of cruise calls being 22% lower than the previous record season in 2019, the 2,176 cruise calls in 2022 demonstrate a strong recovery for the entire cruise industry. UK ports hosted nearly 1.4 million guests, reaching approximately 80% of what the country achieved in 2019. As each passenger contributes around £70 (around $87 US) to the local economy when they disembark, the UK’s coastal economies received an economic boost of nearly £100 million in 2022. More importantly, the 1.04 million passengers who embarked from a UK port last year represent 94% of the total number of cruise visitors in 2019.