Business News Round Up (28/01/2025)
Greater Manchester decade-long growth plan to deliver £1bn of investment a year
Greater Manchester has unveiled an ambitious 10-year plan to turbocharge growth and deliver tens of thousands of new jobs and homes for its residents. The city region already has the fastest growing economy in the UK and has attracted more foreign direct investment than any other UK region. Now it’s ready to pioneer a new way of delivering large scale development and transformative regeneration. Proposals would see the whole Greater Manchester system mobilised to deliver £1bn of investment every year for the next decade and build homes on a scale and at a pace not seen in the past 20 years. At the heart of the plan is the creation of a single pipeline for growth, which would target investment at six Growth Locations across Greater Manchester – nationally significant sites with the highest potential to boost the regional economy and bring benefits to all 10 boroughs.
Number of Scottish firms facing ‘critical’ financial distress rises by 56%
New data for Q4 of 2024 shows that businesses in Scotland, along with many other regions of the UK, saw further concerning rises in signs of financial distress in the final quarter of 2024. According to the latest Red Flag Alert data from leading independent business rescue and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, ‘critical’ instances of financial distress rose by a massive 56.5% from the previous quarter to 2,353 in Q4 2024 with impact across almost every sector recorded above the UK average rise of 50.2%.The latest data, which provides a quarterly snapshot of British corporate health, also reveals that in Q4 2024, there was a 25.4% increase in levels of businesses in Scotland suffering from ‘significant’ financial distress compared with Q4 2023, some 4% higher than the UK average year on year rise of 21.3%.
£125k LYVA Labs investment boost for University spin-out
A University of Liverpool spin-out has received £125,000 in investment from LYVA Labs. Atomik AM works with the advanced manufacturing sector from its base at University of Liverpool’s School of Engineering. Having developed a number of techniques and binders that improve the process of binder jetting, the business plans to use investment from LYVA Labs to accelerate product commercialisation. The funding also supports the business to develop new intellectual property (IP), file a new patent, secure eight jobs, and create a chief operating officer role. Professor Kate Black, founder and chief executive of Atomik AM, has proven expertise and leadership in the additive manufacturing sector, having previously founded and successfully exited a company.
https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-west/125k-lyva-labs-investment-boost-for-university-spin-out
Glasgow next to consider introducing visitor levy
Councillors in Glasgow will this week become the latest to consider introducing a visitor levy, or tourist tax. A report suggests that a 5% charge could raise £12.5 million a year which could be invested in services and to fund events. Ricky Bell, the city treasurer and SNP councillor, is bringing forward the plan which would apply to hotels, hostels, guest houses, B&Bs and self-catering accommodation. The report says: “At this stage there is no evidence to suggest that the introduction of a levy in Glasgow will have an adverse effect on visitor numbers, however, if introduced, these numbers would be closely monitored.” It comes a few days after Edinburgh City Council decided to go ahead with a levy set at 5% and applied to overnight stays after 24 July 2026.