Business News Round Up (30/07/2026)
Demand picks-up for Scottish office space as commercial property market outlook improves
Overall occupier demand remained muted in Scotland through Q2, dragged down by the retail subsector, according to the latest RICS commercial property monitor, but respondents appear more optimistic for the months ahead amid stronger occupier interest in office space. A net balance of 5% of Scottish respondents noted that overall occupier demand rose through Q2, indicating a relatively weak picture overall. Looking at the subsectors though, office and industrial space are performing much better than retail. A net balance of 14% of respondents noted a rise in demand for office space, up from the 3% seen in the survey previous. 25% reported an increase in demand for industrial space, which is largely the same as the balance seen in the Q1 report. However, -25% of Scottish respondents note that there was a fall in demand for retail space, which is consistent with the balance seen earlier in the year.
North West private business owners confident of growth in second half of 2026
More than 90% of private business owners in the North West are confident about achieving growth in H2 of 2026, according to research by KPMG. KPMG’s annual Private Enterprise Barometer surveyed 1,500 privately owned businesses across the UK, including 142 in the North West, to understand their growth ambitions and priorities for the year ahead. At the beginning of the year, 91% of private businesses in the North West expressed confidence in their growth prospects for the next 12 months. By the mid-year mark, this sentiment has grown marginally with confidence levels rising by 1% to 92%, 12% above the UK average. Technology remains a leading investment priority for the North West-based businesses, with 76% of respondents identifying areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security and broader digital transformation as key focuses. This is 10% above the UK average (66%), up 35% from 41% at the beginning of the year.
Fall in number of scale-ups in the UK
The number of scale-up businesses in the UK has declined for the second year in a row. There were 128,760 scale-ups in 2025, down from a peak of 129,080 in 2023, according to analysis of Office for National Statistics data by Vestd. It’s the second annual decrease in a row. In 2024, there were 128,960 scale-ups, which are defined as firms with between 20 and 249 employees that have moved beyond early-stage growth and are actively scaling their operations. The decline was reflected across most of the UK, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all having a drop in the number of scale-ups. England did experience growth, although it was minimal at 0.01%. Regionally, London had the highest concentration of scale-ups and was the only region to experience growth, with scale-ups in the capital rising by 1.73%.
Social Investment Scotland secures £3.5m from the British Business Bank
Edinburgh-based Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has secured £3.5m from the British Business Bank to support underserved smaller businesses across Scotland, with loans ranging from £25,001 to £125,000. SIS offers debt finance and support to underserved charities, social enterprises and smaller businesses that may find it difficult to access finance from mainstream lenders. SIS is the eighth Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) lender accredited by the British Business Bank under its Community ENABLE Funding programme, and the first with a dedicated focus on Scotland. CDFIs typically have strong, local knowledge of the businesses they support and the communities they reside in. As such, they are well placed to help remove barriers to accessing finance experienced by businesses. One of the key objectives of the programme is to help develop the CDFI sector across the UK. The Bank says it will support up to £150m of lending over its first two years.