Job vacancies surge past one million in new record
The number of vacancies in the three months to August, rose above one million for the first time since records began in 2001.
However, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that firms were currently facing an “acute hiring crisis”.
“With Brexit and Covid-19 driving a more deep-seated decline in labour supply, the end of furlough is unlikely to be a silver bullet to the ongoing shortages,” he said.
Christmas is just around the corner, and this means more staff than normal are needed over this busy period, putting even more pressure on companies to ensure staffing levels are adequate to cope with the increase demand in sales.
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Investment lies in hands of pension holders, says Sunak
Mr Sunak said that it was up to everyone who pays into a pension, to tell pension funds they want some of their money invested in technology start-ups.
When comparing the UK pension to the USA and Australia, where 4-5% of pension cash is invested in technology businesses, only 1% of pensions goes to SMEs.
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Nearly 17% of small businesses at risk of insolvency
Nearly 17 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are at risk of insolvency in the next four years, as financial support from the Government winds down, says research.
Business failures remained low during the pandemic; this was, however, due to the amount of government support available to businesses. However, these support schemes are reducing, and the need to pay back these loans increases.
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