Business News Round Up (29/11/2022)
Trade data indicates below-par performance by UK
New data from Britain’s first post-Brexit trade agreement, with Japan, suggests it is underperforming compared to expectations. When the deal was signed, in October 2020, the then secretary of state for international trade, Liz Truss, claimed it would open up trade worth billions for British exporters.
But figures from the Department for International Trade (DIT) show exports to Japan fell from £12.3bn to £11.9bn in the year to June 2022. Exports in goods were down by 4.9% to £6.1bn and services fell 2% to £5.8bn, reports the Observer. Minako Morita-Jaeger, a policy research fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory who has analysed UK-Japan trade, said the UK-Japan trade agreement was “oversold” and did not offer significant economic advantages over the previous EU deal. “In all cases but one, Japanese exports and imports of goods and services with the UK performed worse than the equivalent flows with the EU or the rest of the world,” she said. Japanese businesses have used the UK as a gateway to Europe since the 1980s and annual business research found that the top concern for companies was the UK leaving the EU – named by 73.7% of respondents in 2020 and 47.9% in 2021. These figures come as the UK has been predicted to be the worst performer of the world’s major economies next year, apart from Russia. OECD figures claim UK GDP will fall by 0.4% in 2023 before rising by just 0.2% the following year, reports the FT.
https://www.export.org.uk/news/624379/Trade-data-indicates-below-par-performance-by-UK.htm
Trade department announces first Scottish ‘export champions’
The Department for International Trade (DIT) has announced 13 business figures as the first Export Champions for Scotland. These voluntary roles should help DIT and Scottish Development International (SDI) to promote the benefits of exporting and encourage other companies to consider selling to overseas markets. They will do this via export events, sharing exporting stories with those in their sector, and providing advice to other businesses about how to break into new markets. Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “We know exporters create jobs, pay higher wages and help grow our economy, and Scottish businesses are playing a key part in making the UK an export-led economy. “That’s exactly what these Scottish Export Champions all hope to achieve – and I look forward to working closely with them to achieve our goal of a trillion pounds of exports a year by 2030.” The Export Champion community was introduced in response to a desire from businesses to receive peer-to-peer exporting support. The DIT worked in partnership with SDI to select each champion, which all have an international trade track record and want to share their knowledge and experience with others. One of the new champions is Alastair Walker from Walker’s Shortbread, which exports bakery products to more than 100 countries worldwide.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/trade-department-announces-first-scottish-28600770
Growing digital skills shortages threaten economic growth, amidst worsening gender imbalances and insufficient incentives to teach
A new report from EPI, funded by The Hg Foundation, highlights severe blockages within the digital skills pipeline, while there is substantial employer demand for those with digital qualifications. EPI’s report highlights a growing demand for digital skills within the job market that’s not being met. A substantial 29% of vacancies reported as a result of skills shortages relate to a lack of digital skills, including 17% relating to a lack of advanced digital skills. The report indicates that this unmet demand looks likely to worsen over the coming years, considering take-up of IT and computing courses at GCSE level has fallen by almost half (43%) since its peak in 2016. Curriculum reforms that led to the withdrawal of the IT GSCE, in favour of the less popular Computer Science GCSE, go some way to explaining this drop. Take-up of digital skills at this earlier stage of education strongly predicts take-up in the 16-19 phase. The report also highlights a worrying and worsening gender divide, recommending that particular focus should be given to increasing the proportion of female students studying digital skills. Concerningly, this has reduced from 23% in 2012 to just 17% in 2020. The importance of enabling and encouraging more female students to pursue digital qualifications can’t be overstated. If the entry rate for female students were equal to that of male students, entries into intermediate-level digital qualifications would return to their previous peak. As with the uptake of digital skills at GCSE, the report highlights that apprenticeship starts within the ICT sector have also fallen dramatically since their 2015/2016 peak, with 50% fewer starts in 2019/2020 and 66% fewer in 2021/2022. Though the rollout of three digital T levels may provide a quality option for many students, almost a quarter of students taking existing digital skills qualifications wouldn’t have the GCSE grades expected to access the new qualifications. If neither apprenticeships or T levels are positioned to facilitate greater uptake of digital skills amongst learners, many otherwise interested students are likely to instead pursue lower-level courses or be dissuaded from pursuing digital skills entirely.
KPMG to support Manchester tech sector with new £5.5m investment
KPMG UK is to invest a further £5.5 million in its flagship Manchester office at One St Peter’s Square. The investment will “enhance the services it offers to businesses in the region and provide improved working spaces for colleagues,” the blue chip giant says. The firm will build Ignition North, a new 25,000sq foot collaborative hub designed to spark innovation and support digital transformation on the site, as well as redesigning its wider office space. The new centre will be home to KPMG’s Ignition team. Along with technology experts from across KPMG, the Ignition team will support clients from the start of an idea all the way through to the design, prototyping and development of solutions using a combination of methods, tools and technologies. As part of the Manchester office redesign, the company is also rethinking the traditional office layout to cater for new and developing ways of working. The space will be repurposed to prioritise meetings, presentations and informal get-togethers between colleagues, clients and the firm’s wider networks. KPMG’s Manchester office is currently home to 1,200 employees, including more than 260 people in technology roles. Ignition North will create further jobs in the city as the firm recruits to support its new offering.