Cheshire East Council has revealed it has placed three bids to the government's Levelling Up Fund to invest in projects in Crewe and Macclesfield town centres. The council has bid for funding for improvements to public space in Macclesfield town centre, taking in Chestergate, Market Place, … [Read more...]
News for: General Business
Macclesfield College launches new business school
Macclesfield College has launched Cheshire Business School to transform access to leadership and management skills across the county. Cheshire Business School will offer short courses in leadership, resilience and management skills by world class speakers. They include bestselling author Dr Andy … [Read more...]
North-west SMEs bounce back after pandemic
Analysis by business advisory firm, Quantuma, has revealed the extent to which SMEs in the North-west have bounced back after the Covid-19 pandemic. In Q4 of 2021, the number of severely distressed SMEs in the North-west decreased, in contrast to much of the rest of the UK. Despite this, and … [Read more...]
Business leaders react to resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 7th July, business and political leaders from the North-west and nationally have largely welcomed the news. With the Prime Minister committing to stay on in the role until a new Conservative Party members elect a new leader, CBI … [Read more...]
Business confidence highest in the North-west
Although optimism in the economy fell nationwide in June, Lloyds Bank's latest Business Barometer survey found business confidence to be highest in the North-west. With inflation now at a 40-year high, business confidence is at its lowest level nationally since March 2021 during the second wave … [Read more...]
Two Wilmslow firms feature in Sunday Times ranking of fastest growing private companies
Two Wilmslow based companies have been named among 14 others in the North-west in the Sunday Times list of 100 fastest growing private companies. Pet supplements retailers, Pets Purest, ranked 16th in the league table after reporting growth of over 130% over the past three years, and reaching … [Read more...]
CPI rises further to 9.1%
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose again 9.1% in May, a further 0.1 percentage point increase on April’s record inflation, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed. The continued increase in the measure of changes to typical household costs have been driven by increased prices of … [Read more...]
Number of job vacancies hits record high but pay struggles to keep pace with inflation
The number of job vacancies in March to May 2022 rose to a new record of 1,300,000, according to the latest figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), with regular pay down 2.2% when adjusted for inflation. Despite record high numbers of jobs being advertised by employers, the … [Read more...]
Data protection reform offers innovation boost
The government has set out its plans to reform data protection rules following the UK’s exit from the EU, promising to protect consumers while creating opportunities to boost business through innovation. The Data Reform Bill, set out in this year’s Queen’s Speech aims to bolster data protection … [Read more...]
A fifth of North-west businesses held back by lack of growth funding awareness
Despite high business confidence, nearly a fifth of SMEs in the North-west report they are unaware of growth funding options available to them, according to new research from asset manager and growth capital provider, BOOST&Co. In its 2022 Geared for Growth report, BOOST&Co … [Read more...]
Citation acquires cyber security consultancy
Wilmslow based HR and Health & Safety specialists, The Citation Group, have announced the acquisition of a Lancaster-founded information security consultants, Mitigate Cyber. The acquisition, Citation's third of the year, will enable the group to expand its offering for SMEs to include … [Read more...]
Bank of England raises interest rates to highest level since 2009
The Bank of England has announced a further increase in its base interest rates and issued a stark warning on the UK economy in the near-future. Interest rates have increased by a further 0.25 percentage points to 1%, the highest level since 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis. The … [Read more...]