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Business news

This month (May 2024) we have updates on the following topics:

  • General economic outlook
  • Manufacturing
  • Challenges faced by businesses.
  • Skills in demand in our region
  • Labour markets

General outlook:

  • Inflation and the cost of living remained at the forefront of discussions regarding the economy throughout the April period. However, with more data experts are more confident that the recession that the UK fell into at the start of the year, defined as two quarters of negative GDP growth, is most likely already over
  • With figures from February starting to come out, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the economy grew by 0.1%. This was driven by production and manufacturing industries such as the car industry though there was also slowdown in the construction industry owing to wet weather
  • Higher than expected UK borrowing means that the likelihood of further tax cuts in the next government budget are low, according to the BBC. Ruth Gregory, Deputy Chief Economist at Capital Economics said, “If the Chancellor was hoping March’s figures would provide more scope for tax cuts later this year, he will have been disappointed”. She also noted that static interest rates may also mean that the government will be paying higher interest payments further reducing financial headroom in the budget.

Manufacturing:

  • Sentiment within the Manufacturing sector improved through April with the highest output expectations in six months. According to the CBI’s latest quarterly Industrial Trends Survey the expectations that output will rise is the highest it has been since October 2023
  • The increase in positive outlook for the manufacturing sector is also accompanied by a growth in investment intentions. Particularly, manufacturers are a expecting to raise investment in products and process innovation in addition to plant and machinery investment
  • Andrew Watson, Chief Financial Officer for a Metal Manufacturer in Cambridge highlighted that growth in the sector had been “anaemic” since the pandemic in an interview to the BBC. He also highlighted that there had been further challenges presented by disruptions to supply chains as a result of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Main challenges faced by businesses:

  1. Economic uncertainty
  2. Cost of materials
  3. Competition with other businesses
  4. Insufficient domestic demand

Skills most in demand in our region in April 2024 were:

  1. Warehousing
  2. Nursing
  3. Auditing
  4. Invoicing
  5. Personal Care

Labour markets:

Ashfield's March 2024 figures show that we have 4% or 3120 people of working age seeking work. This is higher than in January 2024, which had 3105 people searching for work. While this figure is higher than the East Midlands average of 3.5% but is inline with the national average of 3.9%.

Last updated: 3 May 2024