Business in East Anglia

Tourism & leisure businesses invest despite mixed results

Tourism and leisure businesses in the region have made heavy investments in weather-proofing attractions which have helped increase visitor numbers and given a boost to the £8 billion visitor economy across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, according to the annual tourism, leisure and hospitality business survey from MHA Larking Gowen.

A combination of unusual weather and rising rent, rates and staff costs mean that while 49 per cent of businesses saw revenues increase in 2018, nearly one in three saw a decrease in income. One in three businesses increased profits by over 10 per cent but nea...

Investment in region's tech sector gathers pace

Capital investment into the technology sector in the East of England has grown at the fastest rate in the country over the past 12 years according to the Tech Nation 2019 , government survey of the sector . It has risen by 206 per cent over the last 12 years. Meanwhile the report identifies 19,090 tech companies in the East, which generate a turnover of £8.33bn and employ 89,000 people with an average productivity of £101,000 per person. Linn Clabburn, programme director of the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor, said: “The Tech Nation report highlights the importance of the East to the UK�...

Call for offshore training to be recognised in tenders to avert workforce ‘crisis’

A 'workforce crisis' is looming in the region’s offshore wind industry unless companies are recognised for their investment in training when tendering for work, according to a leading figure in the sector. Graham Hacon, CEO of Great Yarmouth-based offshore wind services firm 3sun Group, told the SNS2019 conference in Norwich this week that businesses training technicians and inspection engineers can no longer carry the financial burden of funding training then lose tenders to companies that invest nothing. His firm has spent more than £3 million in the last two years on training new en...

Warning to small firms on dangers of financial problems at outsourcers

Thousands of jobs and hundreds of small businesses in the region could be threatened by the financial troubles facing large outsourcing groups according to insolvency trade body R3. “Many hundreds of local subcontractors rely on indirect payments from government projects, but these subcontracts are not always the prize they may seem. Margins are usually very tight, so it is easy to make a loss and, ultimately, small firms rely on the main contractors to pay them,” said R3 Eastern chair Mark Upton, a partner at Ensors Chartered Accountants. The Eastern branch of R3 is encouraging sub...

Business confidence picks up but firms remain cautious

Business confidence in the East of England picked up in April although firms remain cautious about hiring new staff, according to a business barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Overall confidence stood at two per cent in April, four points higher than in March. Although firms in the East reported slightly lower confidence in their own business prospects (12 per cent vs. 13 per cent in March), they took a more optimistic view on the economy.

A net balance of five per cent of businesses in the region expect to hire more staff in the next year, down one point from last month. Mea...