IT & Cyber Services
The National Cyber Security Centre have launched a Cyber Adviser scheme to offer a cyber consultancy service to SME’s and are currently inviting organisations to help develop the service. Advisers will be assessed by the NCSC to initially assist companies to meet the Cyber Essentials technical controls which are Firewalls, Secure Settings, Access Controls, Malware and Software Settings. Employed advisers will eventually be able to apply for their company to be an assured service provider and the first 100 (nationally) adviser assessments are said to be funded by NCSC. Advisers will work to assess controls and risks, then plan and implement remediation. In addition, the NCSC have launched a support package for retailers to protect themselves and their customers online. This includes retailers, hospitality providers and utility services. The guidance covers authentication methods and which ones to choose, removing malicious content to protect brand and general cyber awareness best practices.
Although it’s been around for a few months now, Apple’s iOS 16 seems to have brought the ‘Hide my Email’ facility to the forefront when creating accounts and registrations, generating a unique email which forwards to your real email account. Pseudonyms can be managed through iCloud and removed at any point allowing for easy removal from lists and services at a granular level. Maybe this can track who email addresses have been shared with due to the uniqueness of every registration. This could become quite sophisticated for tracking depending on how Apple develop it in the future.
Further Education
Student numbers are on the increase again although the numbers at Worcester are the same as last year. Business numbers are up significantly and there are a lot more international students in from outside the UK, particularly from China and India. Of the 2.66m students currently in the UK, 110k are from the EU, 40k are Eu postgraduate students and 500k non-EU international students. There is clearly lots of focus on graduate employability in which Worcester does well. Retention is the government’s number one priority for universities. At a local level, University of Worcester is bringing in two new pro-vice chancellors in October 2022 who will take responsibility for all ten schools associated with the University. The new medical school building on Hylton Road is progressing to plan and the nearly completed arches around the Hive will collaborate with the University to create a digital and creative industries hub.
At the last Council it was mentioned that the University was working with the ‘Help to Grow’ programme along with the Chamber/LEP and Growth Hub. The University is also keen to work with the Chamber on the LSIP programme.
Manufacturing
Forecasting was currently difficult as tech components were unpredictable. September had been positive and forecasted delivery had been met. There were constant last minute ‘surprises’ which was wearing people down. There was a large backlog of work, but order input was still good. Costs were increasing which was having a big impact on orders during the manufacturing process. Energy prices were also having an impact as the increase was tremendous, but it was less than could have been feared due to the assembling products rather than forging them. The devaluation of sterling has also had a huge impact on trade as they are an export negative company and instead an importer.
Property
Things had been going well! The first half of the year had been strong but currently the sector does not know how things will play out. Entering a period of inertia in long term property. US demand for UK warehousing has plummeted with a knock on to other aspects such as development.
The day-to-day market is still fairly strong although there is a lack of supply of commercial stock. Industrial estate areas are pretty much full and supply of space is good. Businesses are wanting to relocate but cannot because space simply isn’t there. Local level recruitment has been a struggle and cannot find people easily. Qualified chartered surveyors are hard to find and competition for talent is massive. Even at an administrative and support level it is hard to find people. The housing market was strong with houses coming to market being sold quickly, but the removal of mortgage products will cause a major rethink and inertia will almost certainly follow. The next 12 months will be a bumpy ride!
Banking
It is not clear if residential mortgages that were withdrawn this week will be requoted, but previous ones have been honoured. Fixed rates are increasing and currently at 8.5 or 9.5% which is very high when compared to the base rate. There is concern throughout the client base about the impact of interest rate rises, although only a small percentage of clients seem to be particularly concerned as stress testing ensures affordability. Certain charges to clients may be stopped during this period of uncertainty, although this is not yet public knowledge.
Recruitment
With regard to general market conditions, demand is outstripping supply and wage increase pressure is huge. People are moving roles for small increases in salary. More senior staff are knowing their value and bidding wars are developing between staff leaving or being retained. The Summer holidays were slow for the first time in two years as people took holidays. The market is busy now but when you out uncertainty into the equation it slows down the recruitment market as people do not want to be in a ‘last in first out’ situation. Temporary recruitment is going well however. The sixth month support offered by the government for business is not long enough as businesses work on 2-3 year cycles. The company have won a contract from the LEP to deliver workforce planning and information relating to this would be emailed to council members.
Insurance
Recruitment is a problem across the whole sector. Pay inflation is increasing and the quality of candidates has not always been high. There are warnings within the sector whenever there is a financial crisis and there is an increase in theft, fraud, arson as well as an increase in slip and trip claims. There are also concerns relating to civil unrest.
Prices continue to build. Insurers are putting a 20% increase on building policies due to price increases in manufacturing which includes rebuilding materials. These increases are more to do with rebuilding costs and not the market value of properties. Contents insurance also rises because of the increased cost of replacing items. This is not just limited to property. Professional Indemnity insurance premiums are increasing (in one cases from circa £8,000 to £50,000). As a result of this clients are removing or reducing indemnity insurance cover – particularly in the leisure and hospitality sectors – as they can no longer afford the cover. Last minute renewals are also being cancelled.