Business News Round Up (29/03/2022)
UK tech sector is third to be valued at $1 trillion
Britain’s technology sector has become only the third in the world to be valued at $1 trillion, with the digital economy now worth more than double that of Germany’s and almost five times larger than France and Sweden. Edinburgh and Glasgow are among the UK’s top five cities for tech investment so far in 2022, with companies from the two cities raising a combined £115 million of investment. These investments include regtech provider, Encompass Corporation – headquartered in Glasgow – which raised £25m. The data, calculated by Dealroom and analysed for the UK’s Digital Economy Council, also reveals that Edinburgh’s average advertised salary of £58,405 is the highest outside of London and the South-East. Scotland enjoyed a bumper 2021, with companies across the country raising a collective £228 million through over 50 venture rounds. The researchers say this indicates a rising class of early-stage companies that will go on to become future tech giants. It lists examples as healthtech firm Current Health, which was sold last year for $400m (£300m), and the tidal energy company Nova Innovation. However, is also lists ready meals business Parsley Box, even though its value has plummeted after a series of setback from £84m on flotation in March 2021 to just £12m.
Experts call for significant changes in order to ‘level up’ the country
The Government needs to decentralise the UK’s decision-making structures and invest in skills if it is to achieve its ‘levelling up’ ambitions, according to a new publication from The University of Manchester. The UK has huge regional disparities in productivity – while London and much of the south-east compare well with other places in Europe, Greater Manchester and many other regions lag far behind. In 2016, Greater Manchester’s productivity was 89% of the UK average, falling from 92.2% in 1998. “The promise to level up the UK was one of the flagship pledges made in the 2019 Conservative manifesto,” says Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government, in the foreword of On Productivity. “This pledge tapped into a longstanding sore in British society – the stubborn gap in economic performance and many other measures of prosperity between different parts of the UK.” Professor Richard Jones states that there is an opportunity to address this disparity, calling the and the recent Levelling Up White Paper ‘encouraging’. However, he notes that while Innovation Accelerators – including one centred on Greater Manchester which “offers the chance to inject a new, place-led dimension into innovation policy” – are promising, these kinds of initiatives must be extended to other places in order to improve regional productivity.
Economic growth has ‘stabilised’ says latest business survey
Economic growth across Greater Manchester has ‘stabilised’ following challenges brought on by Omicron, high inflation, and the war in Ukraine. That’s according to the latest Quarterly Economic Survey by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC). In its latest findings, The Greater Manchester Index, a composite indicator made of key QES measures, now stands at 32.3, a decrease of 0.2 points from the previous quarter’s results. This is the fourth quarter in a row that the Greater Manchester IndexTM has been in the low 30s, a firm indicator “that the bounce back from Covid has stabilised.” The survey of 424 businesses was held between February 15 to March 11. It revealed that sales in the domestic market to UK customers increased marginally in the construction and services sectors whereas in the manufacturing sector, it declined slightly. Whilst domestic trade increased overall by 1.5 percentage points, relative to Q4 2021, the decline in international trade in Q1 has offset these modest gains. On the plus side, the order books of businesses in all sectors seem steady. That could secure current levels of activity, but it will be reliant on other macro-economic developments.
Glenburn Hotel sold out of administration
The Glenburn Hotel, which fell into administration last August, has been sold to the UK’s largest independent hotel group, Bespoke Hotels. The sale, for an undisclosed sum, adds to Bespoke’s portfolio of 90 hotels in the UK, including 23 in Scotland. Administrators FRP Advisory marketed the property for offers over £1.1m after it failed to meet operating costs as a result of falling revenue during the pandemic. Originally built in 1843 and sited on a prominent hilltop location overlooking Rothesay, Scotland’s first ‘hydropathic’ hotel opened in 1892. It was refurbished in 2016 and features 134 guest rooms, a ballroom, restaurants, bars, terrace, conference facilities and terraced gardens. Haydn Fentum, chair at Bespoke Hotels, said: “We are delighted to have agreed a deal with FRP to acquire the Glenburn Hotel and look forward to integrating it into our expanding portfolio.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/glenburn-hotel-sold-out-administration-26570894