Worldwide Offices
At the time of writing, the economic outlook is gloomy. The Times is warning of a new credit crunch while The Telegraph is drawing its readers’ attention to the possibility of protectionism leading to a global depression. The Observer is comparing events in the world economy to a Madhatter’s Teaparty and The Mail is reporting on the occupation of several America
Read More Post a comment
The latest Bank of Scotland PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) gave some, albeit slight, reasons for cheer when it was released last week. ‘Private sector activity continues to expand at a robust pace’ was the headline with both manufacturing and services north of the border looking lively. On the down side, the report noted that while there was growth, it was slower than in the rest of the UK. Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, said: ‘This is the seventh successive positive PMI this year and a welcome one, suggesting that the private sector of the Scottish economy grew, albeit modestly, in July. Higher activity was prevalent across both manufacturing and services sectors and for the first time
Read More Post a comment
The release of the latest Lloyds TSB Scotland Business Monitor prompted two very different reactions at Scotland’s broadsheets today. The Scotsman splashed the story on its front page with the headline ‘Scots economy at its best for three years’. The Herald took a rather more sombre view with a report titled ‘Recovery, but it’s slow and muted’. Although their responses could not have been much different, both based their stories on the news that Scotland's economy is "slowly strengthening". The Monitor recorded a 2 per cent net increase in turnover for firms in the last quarter. Compared to the
Read More Post a comment
Scotland may have endured some unwelcome snow at the weekend but the economy is pointing to a sunnier future. Released today, The Bank of Scotland PMI report for February contains undeniable good news. According to the report’s headline, last month, private sector output expanded at its fastest pace since June 2007. In fact, for the first time in six months, Scotland’s economy expanded at a stronger pace than the rest of the UK. According to the survey, the growth was due to the manufacturing sector: ‘The strongest rise in activity in Scotland in forty-four months was signalled by the Bank of Scotland PMI – a seasonally adjusted index monitoring activity across Scotland’s manufacturing and service indu
Read More Post a comment
December’s extreme weather blew cold air all over Scotland’s economic recovery according to the latest PMI report from the Bank of Scotland. The headline Bank of Scotland PMI – a seasonally adjusted index monitoring activity across Scotland’s manufacturing and service industries – signalled a contraction of Scotland’s private sector economy in the final month of 2010, falling almost ten points to 39.6 from 49.5 in November. Quarterly averaged PMI data showed that output performance in Q4 was the weakest since Q1 2009. The severe weather dampened domestic demand in both manufacturing and especially services. Foreign demand, in comparison, remained solid as manufacturers reported continued growth of ne
Read More Post a comment
Both The Scotsman and The Herald have led today’s business pages with reports on the latest Purchase Managers Index from Bank of Scotland. The key point is that improving manufacturing performance has offset some deterioration in the services sector. Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, says in the report: ‘This month’s robust recovery in manufacturing partially offset the fall in service activity extending the slowdown in the Scottish economy into November. ‘Sco
Read More Post a comment
These are interesting but potentially puzzling times for business leaders who want to know which direction the economy is heading in. The Scottish newspapers don’t seem to be able to get a clear reading on the situation. Writing in The Herald, Jeremy Peat, the director of the David Hume Institute, has doubts over the 0.8% growth in GDP which has been estimated for the third quarter of this year. Based on these figures, he surmises that the economy should be booming but wonders where exactly all this activity is taking place. In yesterday’s Scotland On Sunday, B
Read More Post a comment
The Bank of Scotland’s latest PMI Report makes for cheery reading. The full report is here but the headlines are as follows: Recovery in Scotland remained tentative in August, but outpaced UK trend Activity rose in both manufacturing and services Scottish firms increased headcounts in line with higher output It’s not all good news. The report goes on to note that the ‘headline index is unchanged from July at 53.0, signposting only a moderate rise in output. ‘Underlying data continued to highlight marked divergences between the performances of the manufacturing and services sectors, with by far the more robust recovery seen in the goods-producing sector. Meanwhile, new order growth was only margi
Read More Post a comment
The Herald and Scotsman Publications newspapers have both been looking to the future and questioning Scotland’s business leaders about their thoughts on the dreaded double dip recession. Scotland On Sunday quizzed some nineteen business people ranging from David Nish, the Chief Executive at Standard Life, to Leigh Wilson, the Chief Executive at JetLogic private aviation firm. As you might expect, when you ask nineteen people the same questions then you don’t get nineteen identical answers. However, while the interviewees’ views on the likelihood of a double dip ranged from ‘probably not’ to â€
Read More Post a comment
The Bank of Scotland released the results of their monthly PMI survey today. Seen as an accurate snapshot of the Scottish economy, the results give some cause for optimism. According to the figures, the Scottish recovery continues but the underlying trends have weakened. Activity in the manufacturing and service sectors rose in July and new order growth increased. On the downside, staffing levels at private firms were flat last month after five previous months of growth and the rate of new order growth was the slowest it has been for three months. The manufacturing sector seems to be leading the recovery rather than the service sectors. Activity levels across the Scottish economy increased for the thirteenth straight month in July, with the pace of expansion broadly unchanged in the past three mon
Read More Post a comment
