Business News Round Up (26/09/2022)
Almost half of firms in Scotland now have hybrid working
Almost half of Scottish businesses now have hybrid working in place, allowing staff to do their job from home for part of the working week. The figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed Scotland has a higher rate of firms using this model than the rest of the UK. North of the border, almost a third (32.6%) of businesses said their employees normally work from home one or two days a week – with 16.5% of companies reporting staff do this three or four days a week. This means hybrid working is in place in 49.1% of firms, compared with 42.7% of companies across the UK. In Scotland almost two fifths (38.3%) of firms said their staff did not work from home – with this lower than the 42.3% recorded for the UK as a whole. The figures come from research done by the ONS involving 9.207 firms in the UK, including some 1,200 firms in Scotland. Hybrid presentation expert and former MSP Gavin Brown said the findings showed habits developed during the pandemic were here to stay.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/almost-half-firms-scotland-now-28080108
£6.1m funding boost for manufacturers
A programme that has backed 2,500 North West manufacturers to adopt new digital technology and skills to create growth and jobs has secured £6.1m funding to continue for three more years. Made Smarter has helped small and medium-sized companies start their digital journey by providing them with specialist advice and a digital roadmap. This is to help them select the right approach, level of investment and tools for their business. More than 250 of them, supported by matched funding, have invested in new technology, ranging from software and sensors to robotics and extended reality. It will help them to become more efficient, build resilience, increase their productivity, and grow sustainably. As a result, these manufacturers are set to create 1,250 new jobs, upskill almost 2,300 existing roles, bring forward an additional £176m in gross value added to the region, and help the UK meet its Net Zero target by 2050. Now with a further £6.1m funding from the government, Made Smarter can accelerate its drive to support hundreds more SME manufacturers in Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Liverpool City Region, to embrace the industry 4.0 movement.
https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-west/6.1m-funding-boost-for-manufacturers
GEM survey reveals gaps in confidence of Scots to start own business
Around four in ten adults not presently engaged in business activity in Scotland can see good opportunities to start businesses in the next six months, but more than half say the fear of failure would stop them, according to a new survey. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Scotland report 2021/22, which captures rates of entrepreneurship in the general adult population, reveals there are significant gaps in the confidence Scots have in their entrepreneurial abilities. The study is part of a global research consortium that measured rates of entrepreneurship by interviewing around 150,000 adults across 50 countries in 2021, including around 10,000 respondents from all four UK Home Nations. This report, which captures the views of more than 1,500 Scots who took part in the GEM Adult Population Survey, reveals that despite ongoing economic challenges, in 2021, almost half a million people in Scotland were engaged in independent entrepreneurial activity. This includes around 170,000 in established businesses (over three and a half years old) and more than 320,000 in Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA). Around 130,000 women and 60,000 18–24-year-olds were involved in start-up activity. While Scotland’s TEA rate of 9.5% increased slightly from the 7.3% reported in 2020, this growth was however not statistically significant, meaning TEA rates in Scotland remained broadly the same in 2021 as in 2020.
Foreign investment grows in North of England but falls in rest of UK
The value of foreign direct investment into the north of England has risen by almost three-quarters in the past five years while falling in every other part of the UK, including London. Analysis of market data and government statistics carried out by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership lobby group — whose economists include former Treasury minister Lord Jim O’Neill — also shows that the north has increased its share of the UK’s FDI projects from 19 per cent to 33 per cent over the same period, overtaking London. The number of jobs created in the north rose by 18 per cent. O’Neill, who spearheaded the “Northern Powerhouse” push to boost the region’s economy between 2015 and 2016 when George Osborne was chancellor, said the rise represented the only “notable success” to have emerged from the project. He added that the rest of the agenda had “dwindled” under the Tory administrations that followed. During Osborne’s chancellorship the north was marketed heavily to overseas investors, particularly in Asia. The latest analysis, which combined data from fDi Markets, part of the Financial Times group, with those from the Office for National Statistics and the Department of International Trade, shows FDI rising by 72 per cent — from $25.257bn to $43.683bn — across the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber during the years 2017-2021, compared with the previous five year period.
https://www.ft.com/content/a8ae0664-4654-4646-910e-5b63d38631e7