In this edition...
UK sees spike in IT job ads
100s of jobs to be created in hydrogen train programme
Marketing Manchester launches recovery and confidence campaign
East Lancashire towns leading high street recovery
Lancashire based Wham UK begins major recruitment drive
Big plans for Liverpool Metquarter and iconic Strawberry Fields approved
NW shares in £40m of funding to kick start next gen nuclear technology
100s of jobs to be created as huge formerTravis Perkins site in Warrington acquired in £7.5m deal
The future of workplaces: How Covid-19 will transform office life
Jobless figures 'not showing full extent of the crisis'
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UK sees spike in IT job advertisements as lockdown eases
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The number of active job postings in the UK topped a million this week (w/c 13th July), according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).
There has been a significant surge over the last month in job ads for IT professionals. Demand for web designers and developers skyrocketed 15.5%, compared to June.
The UK already has a serious skill shortage when it comes to IT - latest data from the Open University shows half of employers struggle to attract talent with the right IT skills.
Large tech firms IBM and SAP previously predicted that by 2020, there would be one million unfilled jobs in the IT sector, because people aren't being trained with the skills to take on these jobs.
In April, the Department for Education launched the online platform "The Skills Toolkit", offering people access to free, high-quality digital and numeracy courses to help build up their skills, progress in work and boost their job prospects.
However, not enough people know that these free online courses are available, so TechUK is working with the government and various organisations including the Institute of Coding to see how best to inform the general public and give people the confidence to give digital skills training a try.
Read more here
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100s of jobs to be created as further £1m investment announced in hydrogen train programme
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Hundreds of jobs are to be created for the North West after a further £1m investment was announced by Alstom and Eversholt Rail into creating British hydrogen trains.
The two firms said the "major investment" means the new 'Breeze' trains will be ready for early deployment in the UK to meet the Government's need to decarbonise the rail industry.
The trains will be built at Alstom's Widnes Transport Technology Centre in Halton and become the first ever '600 series'.
When the project is in series production, it will mean 200 high-quality engineering jobs for the North West.
Read more here
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Marketing Manchester launches recovery and confidence campaign to support £9billion visitor economy
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– £4.2 billion expected to be wiped off visitor economy due to COVID
– New campaign developed in partnership with over 20 Greater Manchester organisations
– Campaign initially aims to move ‘hyper local’ audiences around towns and boroughs
– Sub-brands of campaign will promote meetings and conference industry as well as student offer
Marketing Manchester has launched a new consumer campaign to help recovery of the tourism, hospitality, leisure and cultural industries and to rebuild confidence in Greater Manchester as a place to visit, live, work and study.
As the world continues to live with COVID-19 the Find Your Space campaign inspires consumers to take time to discover Greater Manchester’s rich and diverse leisure and tourism offer, whilst prioritising well-being, kindness and safety.
Developed in partnership with over 20 Greater Manchester organisations including Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Greater Manchester local authorities, the campaign is squarely aligned with and complements other Greater Manchester recovery campaigns and initiatives such as Build Back Better and Safely Reopening GM as well as those developed by local authorities.
The first wave of the campaign will focus on ‘hyper local’ audiences, encouraging Greater Manchester residents to get out and about in their local villages, towns, cities and countryside.
Read more here
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East Lancashire towns lead high st recovery
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A new report on the health of the UK's high streets shows that two East Lancashire towns are among the quickest to return to normal levels of activity.
The Centre for Cities tracker places Burnley second in the country, and Blackburn sixth. The data used compares the last weekend in June with pre-lockdown footfall.
Burnley registered a 60 on the recovery index, behind only Basildon which scored 61. Blackburn scored 56, ahead of nearby cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, which both scored 22, and London, 19.
Centre for Cities suggested that the cities struggling with the slowest high street recovery are those with a concentration of offices in the centre. Where workers have not yet returned, the nearby shops, food outlets and bars have struggled.
Read more here
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Jobless figures not showing full extent of the crisis
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Unemployment rose by 34,000 in April to reach 1.3 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
But the Resolution Foundation argues that the 23% drop in average hours worked between early March and late April is a better indicator of unemployment.
The ONS said it publishes a large selection of analysis on employment.
Resolution Foundation chief economist Mike Brewer said: "Britain is in the midst of an unprecedented economic shock that is profoundly affecting millions of people's jobs.
"Unemployment is forecast to hit 4 million for the first time ever. And yet our official data is failing to show the true extent of this jobs crisis." The government's budgetary watchdog, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR), has projected that unemployment could reach 4 million people, if the UK's economic recovery is poor, up from 1.3 million in 2019 in its latest analysis.
Meanwhile, data for people claiming benefits soared to 2.3 million for April. But these figures could include some people who are eligible to claim support while still employed
Read more here
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Big plans for Liverpool Metquarter and iconic Strawberry Fields approved
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Big plans to turn the upper floors of Liverpool's Metquarter into a music and performing college, and for a new visitor attraction at the city's iconic Strawberry Field, have been approved by the city council.
Members of the council's planning committee have approved massive changes that would see Liverpool Music Academy move into to the top two floors of the shopping centre, as well as proposals for a new bandstand at Strawberry Field that will pave the way for a host of live music events.
The Salvation Army had applied to build the new bandstand in order to host a range of live music events throughout the year and enhance a new visitor centre.
Strawberry Field is internationally famous thanks to the Beatles' 1967 hit, Strawberry Fields Forever, and has been maintained by the Salvation Army since the 1930s.
The visitor centre and cafe there opened to the public last year, though is currently closed to the Covid-19 situation.
The Metquarter opened in 2006 but has struggled with high vacancy rates amid intense competition in the city centre.
Meanwhile, LMA has expanded rapidly since its founding in 2009, with 760 students now on its role, the Local Democracy Service reports.
The Robbie Williams co-owned college, currently based on Duke Street offers courses in film and television, games animation, acting, dance, musical theatre and music.
The plans would see recording studios, practice rooms and classrooms built in parts of the Metquarter that currently house retail units.
Read more here
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North-west shares in £40m of funding to kick start next gen nuclear technology
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The Government has announced £40m of funding to unlock thousands of green jobs by developing the next generation of nuclear energy technology.
Several schemes are situated in the North West.
Part of the funding will support three Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) projects, which are far smaller than traditional nuclear plants and use intense heat generated in nuclear reactions to produce low-carbon electricity.
Up to £30m of funding will speed up the development of the three AMR projects, including sites in Cheshire and Lancashire, and drive them closer towards supplying low-carbon energy to the nation.
The remaining £10m will be invested into unlocking smaller research, design, and manufacturing projects to create up to 200 jobs.
The two successful North West AMR projects, awarded £10m funding each, are:
- Westinghouse, Lancashire – developing a lead-cooled fast reactor, a type of fission reactor
- U-Battery, Cheshire – working on a small high temperature gas-cooled fission reactor
Cheshire
U-Battery, Concept Development and Demonstrator for U-Battery AMR Off-Site Modular Construction in Capenhurst – £1.1m
Jacobs, Evaluation Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing Qualification in Warrington – £181,431
Merseyside
Cammell Laird, FAITH in the Wirral – £5.1m
The remaining £5m will be put to strengthening the UK’s nuclear regulatory regime, ensuring it remains one of the most robust and safest in the world as the UK looks to develop and deploy advanced nuclear technologies.
Recent research has shown that the UK’s entire nuclear industry could contribute £9.6bn per annum to the economy and support 130,000 jobs by 2050, as well as creating significant export potential for AMR technology.
A significant part of the UK’s nuclear research takes place in a belt running from Cumbria to North Wales – a region that could be set to benefit from the nuclear industry’s enormous potential for job creation, in part thanks to this investment.
Read more here
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100s of jobs to be created as huge former Travis Perkins site in Warrington acquired in £7.5m deal
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A huge North West site previously occupied by Travis Perkins has been acquired by Tungsten Properties for £7.5m.
The site at Appleton Thorn Trading Estate in Warrington will now see a 243,000sq ft warehouse built, which will house more than 200 jobs. The acquisition of the 11-acre site by the mid-box industrial and warehouse developer was funded by British Airways Pensions Trustees. It follows Travis Perkins' relocation earlier this year to a new larger facility at Omega Warrington Distribution Centre.
The Lyncastle Road site is an allocated employment area and preferred distribution location within the local plan.
Subject to planning, demolition works will start later this year with the unit available from late summer 2021.
Read more here
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The future of workplaces: how Covid-19 will transform office life
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As the coronavirus pandemic continues to surge in parts of the US, some companies have moved forward with plans to let their employees re-enter the office after months of working from home.
In the absence of federal guidelines around best practices, office managers will likely need to rely on an abundance of caution. This may turn offices into ghost towns of their former selves, with gatherings by the water cooler, big meetings, and buzzing shared spaces disappearing for the foreseeable future.
‘De-densifying’ is the new ‘social distancing’
If your office decides to move forward with reopening, you may start to hear the phrase “de-densifying” in conversations about how to do so safely. The term, which many schools have used when laying out plans for reopening in the fall, refers to restricting the number of people who have access to a given space at any one time, in order to ensure social distancing.
For offices, that could mean phased re-openings. It could also mean major changes to the physical layout of your office.
Say goodbye to big meetings and staff socials for now
While big office meetings may not officially be a thing of the past yet, “they’re most certainly aren’t a thing of the immediate future,”
PPE at work will be the new normal
Stations for personal protective equipment, like hand sanitizer, masks and gloves, will be new permanent fixtures in offices, placed at entrances, exits and other strategic locations. Forward-thinking businesses may have stations for you to recycle your masks and gloves as well.
Wipe it down
Even though we now believe the virus is not as easily transmitted via contact with contaminated surfaces, workers will likely need to get into the habit of wiping down their desk and other office supplies.
Expect your temperature to be taken regularly
No-touch infrared thermometers have already been spotted in certain businesses, including airports and restaurants.
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