Coventry: Top Cities for Business

Posted on May 8, 2015

Coventry CathedralCoventry’s Economy, Business Innovation, Industry, Jobs, Skills and Infrastructure

Coventry has benefited from forward-looking and business-friendly steps taken by the local council, the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, and the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership. Over the past ten years, the city has emerged as one of the most successful places to do business in the UK. It now ranks seventh in the UK for job growth, with almost 12,000 new jobs created over the past decade. Although its skills base remains relatively low, Coventry can do more to attract high-skilled workers and ensure its residents have the qualifications needed to continue the city’s growth in the longer-term.

Industry, Business and Innovation in Coventry

Coventry is the thirteenth largest city in the UK, with some 329,000 people living in the city. It is located in the heart of England and is well-connected to the rest of the UK and beyond. Coventry is an hour from London by rail, 20 minutes from Birmingham Airport, and 35 minutes from East Midlands Airport. It is also accessible from six motorways (M1, M6, M42, M40, M45 and M69), while 98 per cent of the UK market is within a four-hour drive. The local area is home to several renowned companies, including Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, E.ON, Severn Trent, Rolls Royce, IBM and many others. Key sectors include automotive engineering, low carbon industries, intelligent transport solutions, and digital gaming. In 2013, there were 45.18 business start-ups per 10,000 people in Coventry. Knowledge intensive business services accounted for 17.92 per cent of jobs in 2013, while manufacturing represented 11.07 per cent of businesses in Coventry. About a third of jobs in Coventry are supported by the public sector.

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Milton Keynes: Top Cities for Business

Posted on April 21, 2015

Milton Keynes on the mapMilton Keynes’ Economy, Business Innovation, Jobs and Skills, Industry and Infrastructure

Since 2003, Milton Keynes has risen as the fastest growing city in the UK in terms of population and creation of new jobs. Research shows that the number of businesses increased by over 18% over the decade from 2004 to 2013, leading to the creation of 24,400 more jobs. Milton Keynes demonstrates the highest job growth among the cities of the south, and the highest population growth among 64 UK cities.

The following key statistics determine Milton Keynes’ economic success:

Economy & Business Innovation

Milton Keynes ranks second in Business Startups (behind London) with 67.66 per 10,000 people. Gross Value Added (GVA) per worker, the value of goods and services produced per capita, places Milton Keynes fourth among 63 cities, indicating a high contribution of the workforce to the UK GDP. Finally, Milton Keynes is tenth out of 64 UK cities in the registration of new patents, a strong indication of innovation. 

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Edinburgh Airport for Business Travellers

Posted on April 9, 2015

Are you a frequent business traveller? Flying into Edinburgh for a meeting? Our business travel guide to Edinburgh will help you take advantage of your time and enjoy the airport’s facilities.

Business Travel Stats

In 2014, Edinburgh Airport was the busiest airport in Scotland as well as the 6th busiest airport in the United Kingdom. In 2014 the airport served 10.2 million passengers. It is estimated that, on average, 26,850 passengers fly in and out of Edinburgh Airport daily using more than 40 airlines who fly to 100 destinations worldwide.





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Business Services and Incentives
Edinburgh Airport offers free Wi-Fi access and free Internet access to facilitate business communication, catching up with your e-mails or plain research on business issues. Business Lounges are available for travellers who have passed security control and need some privacy to unwind and work before their trip. Especially, international business travellers can enjoy contemporary business facilities including business desks. The Helping Hand service provides business travellers with customised assistance to get around the airport. Additionally, FastTRACK Priority Security Lane assists business passengers to save up time to check-in and it can be pre-booked or booked online.

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London: Top Cities For Business

Posted on April 7, 2015

London’s Economy, Business Innovation,  Jobs and Skills, Industry and Infrastructure

The city London has been spearheading economic growth for decades. The city has paved the way to economic recovery following the recession and most analysts believe that it is well on its way to outperform the rest of the United Kingdom in various key economic indicators.

London’s economy: Recent figures

At approximately £375 billion per year, London has the UK’s highest GVA. GVA per worker is the country’s second highest at £70,100. The city offers a favourable environment for both established and new businesses, and this is evident in the rather low business churn rate (7.76 per cent) and in the impressive business start-up rate of 57.56 companies for every 10,000 people. Likewise, the most recent data show that business stock levels are 489 per 10,000 people.

Over the past decade, the number of London-based businesses has grown by 33 per cent and more than 750,000 new jobs have been created. Self-employment has grown by 24 per cent since 2010. Other positive indicators involve the performance of small and medium-sized businesses in London. The 2015 Centre for Cities report shows that 13.4 per cent of the capital’s SME’s fall into the high-growth category. Moreover, London has the highest SME density in the country, with 418 SMEs for every 10,000 people.

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Office IT Security Guide

Posted on March 31, 2015

Keeping your office secure is most likely high on your list of priorities, but are you sure you’re paying enough attention to your IT system? Under the UK Data Protection Act, you can face fines and criminal charges if you don’t take the correct steps towards keeping your business’ IT system secure. Fortunately, the government and GCHQ offer guidance on making this easier.

Make sure your staff are IT savvy

While the ins and outs of IT security may seem obvious to some, others need a little guidance. Make sure staff are aware that  they should not write their passwords down, and encourage them to set secure passwords in the first place, and offer training on ensuring they keep the system secure. Many staff may also need some of the less obvious rules explaining, for example only using specificweb browsers, not accessing certain features from their mobile phones or tablets, and not using work emails for personal purposes. Finally, stress the importance of not downloading software or MP3s, as this is an easy way to invite malware onto your business’ IT system.

Make sure staff are safe when working from home

Working from home offers staff members with difficult commutes a little more flexibility. However, they need to ensure their anti-virus systems are robust and up-to-date, so your information doesn’t get lost. You may want to consider strengthening your office’s intranet security if staff are accessing it from home. If you do allow staff to access work files using mobiles or tablets, ensure they are secure against new threats.

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Aberdeen:Top Cities for Business

Posted on March 24, 2015

Aberdeen’s Economy, Business Innovation, Jobs and Skills, Industry and Infrastructure

Cities are the UK’s economic engines, as jobs, innovation, and valuable infrastructure are plentiful in urban centres all over the country. But some cities do better than others. The most recent Centre for Cities report has reviewed how the UK’s major cities have fared over the past decade, particularly in terms of economic development, business innovation, infrastructure, and jobs growth. Not surprisingly, analysts at the Centre for Cities found out that Aberdeen is among the country’s top five stand-out cities along with London, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, and Coventry. The Scottish city is now a well-established and dynamic centre of economic growth, and in this post we examine the reasons behind Aberdeen’s remarkable success.

Aberdeen’s economy: a successful model of growth

Local businesses in Aberdeen are clearly driving economic growth, not only in the city itself, but also at regional and national level. For example, a survey published by the local city council revealed that Aberdeen City and Shire companies generate over £68 billion in revenues every year, with almost 80% of that total attributable to enterprises in Aberdeen City itself, accounting for nearly a quarter of Scotland’s total economic output. The Scottish city is ahead of many others when it comes to its GVA per resident levels, which are nearly £62,000 per employee and the third highest in the country.

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Office Requirements: Office Supplies

Posted on March 18, 2015

Prime Office Space has compiled a series of guides to help you with all your Office Requirement needs which include Office Planning, Office Equipment, Communications Equipment, Office Furniture, Computer Equipment, Computer Software and Office Supplies.

This week we will be looking at: Office Supplies

Office supplies are mainly all the small, expendable items that every business office needs. The basic office supplies include ballpoint pens, permanent pens, pencils, highlighters, whiteboard markers, paper clips, binder clips, laminators, staplers, hole punchers, office tape, packing tape, scissors, correction tape, rubber bands, paper, notebooks, envelopes (closed and window type, letter size, and manila), postage, business cards, stationery, post-it-notes, and folders. Office supplies may also include higher-cost equipment like desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, printers, fax machines, modems, routers, photocopiers, and cash registers.

When buying office supplies for your business, you should consider your budget. Because you are buying many different kinds of products you may end up paying more for office supplies than estimated in your office budget. Make an analysis to see which office supplies are mostly used, how often you need to reorder and what quantities can satisfy your office needs. Then, go into a contract with your supplier for potential discounts on particular items to avoid increasing costs. You can set a systematic cost-effective ordering schedule with the help of your supplier to spend no more than 4-5% of your budget on office supplies.

It is highly advisable to buy office supplies in bulk. With bulk purchases you save time and money, but you also keep your business on track because employees don’t have to interrupt their workflow to look for replacement items. However, make sure to carefully plan a bulk purchase in order to buy the items you really need. Make a list of the items you use regularly and need to be replaced often and determine how much of each item you need to purchase for a specific time period. Make a list of items, manufacturers and prices to do a cost comparison and purchase good quality, low-cost office supplies from office supply retailers that offer the best value for money. Include online vendors, mail order vendors and warehouse clubs to increase your savings.

It is helpful to understand which items are low-cost in order to avoid paying more for a cheap item only because you buy it from a different manufacturer. Also, compare the rates of suppliers and select one vendor that provides similar products at the lowest cost. In fact, price benchmarking will help you control your spending on office supplies and have a control on the items ordered.

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Cambridge: Top Cities for Business

Posted on March 12, 2015

View of Cambridge's Colleges - Panoramic view of several College buildings in Cambridge, seen from the tower of St. John's CollegeAccording to the British Chamber of Commerce, the UK economy is set to accelerate during 2015, reaching record-high levels of growth in a variety of industry sectors. The positive economic outlook is particularly beneficial to entrepreneurs and job seekers in the country’s most business-friendly cities, such as Cambridge. A recent report published by the Centre for Cities has listed Cambridgeshire’s capital as one of the top cities for business in the United Kingdom. Here’s an overview of the key elements that make Cambridge a successful model for economic development.

A thriving and diversified economy
For several years, Cambridge has invested in creating a diverse and modern economic base, and the efforts seem to be paying off. The 2015 Centre for Cities report looked at the performance of the city’s economy over the past 10 years, highlighting the key developments that have taken place in Cambridge in areas like business innovation, employment, skills, and business infrastructure. For example, between February and October 2014 alone, more than 3,000 new businesses were registered with the Companies House. All in all, Cambridge is now home to over 27,000 businesses, a figure that demonstrates the impressive growth levels recently experienced in the city.

One of the keys to economic development lies in diversification, and Cambridge’s success exemplifies this to perfection. The city is no longer reliant on the education and tourist industries. Over the past decade, high-value and knowledge-intensive industry sectors have boomed in Cambridge, which is now renowned at international level for being a hub for leading high-tech businesses. The most thriving industry sectors include biotech, information technology, software development, pharmaceutical research, nanotechnology, life sciences, and health care. The energy sector is also booming in Cambridge, along with companies involved in the telecommunications and engineering industries. In fact, the Cambridge Cluster Map has shown that the top 1,500 companies in the city generate annual revenues in excess of £13 billion, and they provide employment to more than 57,000 people.

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International Women’s Day

Posted on March 6, 2015

This year, International Women’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday 8 March. This annual event has been observed all over the world since 1911, and it has since become an integral part of the international civil awareness agenda. The event’s objective is to celebrate the value and achievements that women around the world have made in social, political, scientific, and economic areas. International Women’s Day also aims to draw attention to gender equality issues and to dispel the various myths that lead to gender discrimination.

This year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called for institutions and individuals all over the world to give priority to women’s empowerment. The Secretary-General has highlighted the importance of looking not only at the progress made so far, but also at the gaps that exist in the implementation of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing in 1995.

Among the key areas of concern defined at that conference the following issues were highlighted:

  • women and the economy
  • women in power and decision-making
  • institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women

In this post we take a look at how the UK has fared in the implementation of corporate and institutional strategies that aim to move towards full gender equality in the workplace.

Women in the British economy: Progress and key achievements

On the occasion of the 2015 International Women’s Day, it is important to review how far women’s rights have progressed in the British context. There are several crucial accomplishments that need to be mentioned in this respect. One of them relates to how British women have contributed to the country’s economy over the past few decades.

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Health and Safety: New Regulations for 2015

Posted on March 3, 2015

The world of health and safety is always adapting, and with 2015 in full swing, now is the time to look at the latest changes. In addition to the simplification of construction site rules, it is now easier for offices to operate their environmental management systems. Not only that, the first energy savings deadline is due at the end of the year, and health and safety fines are set to increase.

Changes to health and safety in construction

While health and safety in construction may not affect many office workers, it can impact those who want to expand their business with new buildings. The number of projects that need to be reported to the HSE will reduce by around 50 percent, as constructors now only need to declare them if they run for 30 days with more than 20 workers, or those that run for more than 500 person days. In addition, both business and domestic clients can appoint a principle designer rather than having a CDM coordinator. Finally, both the need to assess competency and the need to adhere to the approved code of practice have been eliminated, with industry specific guidance replacing the code.

Environmental Guideline Compliance Has Become Easier

It is now easier for businesses to comply with environmental guidelines. The new ISO 14001 revisions strike the right balance between being business savvy and environmentally friendly. Businesses have three years to transfer to the new approach and obtain a certification, but there are benefits to doing this. The guidelines have been designed to improve efficiency, which means there are cuts to the cost of running an office. Business owners that demonstrate they are able to comply with their new guidelines broaden their opportunities, which in turn allows them to make more money. By meeting their legal obligations, business owners are likely to enhance trust amongst those with an interest in their operations, like stakeholders. Finally, adhering to environmental guidelines ultimately means using fewer resources, which is good news for office owners across the UK.

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