Business News Round Up (26/10/2020)
Coronavirus: local lockdowns ‘stifling jobs recovery’
Deserted High Streets are stifling the British job market’s recovery, new research suggests. Urban areas in Scotland and southern England have seen the biggest declines in job postings, according to the Centre for Cities think tank. Vacancies have failed to return to pre-pandemic levels across all 63 towns and cities it analysed across the UK. The slow jobs recovery is linked to a “collapse” in the number of jobs in services being advertised, it says. Aberdeen, where the oil industry has struggled during the pandemic, recorded the steepest fall, with a 75% decline in job vacancies at the beginning of October, compared to the same time last year. It is followed by Edinburgh at 57%, and both Belfast and Crawley, a West Sussex town near Gatwick Airport, at 55%.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54685709
Scottish business clubs launched to tackle nation’s productivity gap
Three new business clubs are being launched in Scotland to help small firms recover from the impact of Covid-19 by improving productivity. Following the success of pilot “Productivity Clubs” in Edinburgh and Glasgow, which have attracted over 1,000 members over the past year, the Scottish Government-funded scheme is now rolling out versions covering North East Scotland, the Highlands and Islands and the South of Scotland under plans announced today. The clubs provide networking opportunities to encourage firms to learn from successful approaches developed by other small businesses to improve productivity and resilience.
Consumer confidence edges up on Eat Out to Help Out boost
Consumer confidence continued to climb over the last three months from a record low at the height of the pandemic, after the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme provided a welcome boost to Britain’s ailing high streets. Deloitte’s quarterly Consumer Tracker found British shoppers’ confidence edged up one percentage point to minus 16 in the three months to the end of September. Spending in restaurants increased by almost 50% over the period, while pub and cafe sales hiked by a third. The spike was driven by an easing of Covid-19 restrictions from early July, combined with warmer weather and continued financial support from government incentives including the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, according to Deloitte.
https://www.cityam.com/consumer-confidence-edges-up-on-eat-out-to-help-out-boost/
Aberdeen faces ‘tough winter ahead’ as city job opportunities now worst in UK
Aberdeen faces a “tough winter ahead” as new figures show job opportunities in the city are the worst in the UK. A collapse in local service jobs in the hospitality, retail and arts and leisure sectors has been blamed for a 75% fall in employment vacancies as Covid-19 lockdown measures have hit the city’s labour market hard. Figures from economic think tank Centre for Cities and the Indeed recruitment site show Aberdeen was the most impacted UK city – followed by Edinburgh and Belfast, which had a 57% and 55% fall in vacancies, respectively. The research found that Aberdeen’s summer Covid-19 lockdown had impacted its ability to recover in the same way as other major UK cities.