So we’re deep into recession, the numbers being confirmed in late November that the UK is now in the longest recession since records began. And the staff at businesses that have made it this far deserve a pat on the back – insolvency trade body R3’s November survey indicated that more than half of staff have taken action to help their employer survive, whether by working longer hours, accepting a pay freeze or bonus deferral, or by taking unpaid leave.
The phrase ‘pension deficit’ has nearly become as widely used as ‘credit crunch’. According to the latest statistics compiled by the Pension Protection Fund, more than 7,000 of the 7,733 final salary schemes now have insufficient assets to cover their liabilities.
This month in Insider, we’ll be looking at the range of cultural and leisure projects currently underway in the North West. Because while office development has paused for breath after several years of headlong development, the efforts to put in place those cultural assets that build a city’s wider cultural offer and underpin future inward investment are ongoing.
In February’s Insider, we’ll be looking to speak to the ratings and valuations experts about what information businesses need to arm themselves with.
In a year when many people expected the market to be non-existent there have been some shrewd transactions to write home about. The flotation of Daisy Group has scored recent headlines, along with the listing of nanotechnology business Nanoco, which moved onto AIM in early 2009. Buyouts at Air Energi and Formation Group, as well as exits by NVM and Inflexion, also proved that there was some activity in the private equity market.
With all eyes on the Far East following China’s Olympic year, attention will soon be turning to South America after London’s turn in 2012. Brazil will play host to the Football World Cup in 2014 as well as the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro.
Each of these five Greater Manchester boroughs has had differing experiences of the recession so far and each is looking to find a niche, a unique selling point on which to base their path to recovery.
The North West has been at the heart of the ongoing controversies over what the major car makers will be doing to restructure their businesses in the wake of some shocking losses. And it could have been a lot worse – Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant escaped mass redundancies in the November announcement of cuts and has been given encouragement that it might bid for production of a sustainable car; while Jaguar Land Rover is to use Halewood to make the “Baby Range Rover”.
Getting digital right has become the mantra across a whole range of sectors. PR and marketing types have seen traditional work dry up, but digital work grow as client businesses try to get to grips with making advancing technology and social media work for them.
