Peek-a-BOO, and welcome to this month’s gap insight! With Halloween haunting us this week (eeek!) and Bonfire Night just around the corner, we’re lighting up Q4 with some spooky sector insights from the employment, FMCG, manufacturing, warehousing, and waste sectors to keep you on track during this busy season. Ready for a treat (or a trick)? Keep on reading…
gap news
Following the heartbreaking news about the potential closure of Zoe's Place in Liverpool, our Bids and Marketing team whipped up some tasty treats in the kitchen in a bid to raise some much needed funds.
Zoe’s Place are the UK’s only baby hospice charity, supporting children age 0-5 with life limiting conditions. The hospices offer home-from-home care, with a superhero team of nurses and carers for the families when they need it most.
If you’d like to read more about the work Zoe's Place Baby Hospice, Liverpool do, or you would like to make your own donation to support them in finding a new home, you can do so here.
In Employment…
Some businesses have hit pause on hiring and investment, holding out for the Autumn Budget on 30th October, to see if tax hikes are coming. Even though the economy had a small boost in August, there’s still plenty of uncertainty for employers, especially around National Insurance changes. The International Investment Summit held in the City of London earlier this month was well-timed, as it allowed the Government to outline plans to boost investment in areas such as infrastructure and energy, just two weeks before Rachel Reeves unveils her first full Budget. Now, businesses are hoping the announcement will lay out the support they need to keep things moving in the right direction. Read more on what’s expected and the potential outcomes here
Latest Employment Data...
This month’s labour market figures show ongoing signs of cooling. Between July and August 2024, the number of payrolled employees decreased by 6,000 but increased by 203,000 over the year. Preliminary estimates for September indicate a further decline of 59,000, bringing the total to 30.3 million. The employment rate for June to August 2024 was 75.0%, up from the previous quarter but slightly lower than a year ago. Unemployment held at 4.0%, while job vacancies dropped by 42,000 to 857,000, marking the 26th consecutive period of decline.
Wage growth continued, with regular earnings up by 5.1% from June to August 2024, and total pay, including bonuses, up by 4.0%. Real wage growth, adjusted for inflation, was 2.2% for regular pay and 1.1% for total pay. In July, 42,000 working days were lost due to labour disputes, largely within health and social work sectors. Additionally, the Claimant Count for September increased to 1.792 million, influenced by changes to work search requirements affecting around 180,000 claimants.
For more details, read the full ONS labour market report.
In FMCG...
Greggs is bringing some serious sparkle to Newcastle this Christmas with its first ever
champagne bar, which opened its doors this month in Fenwick’s bustling Food Hall. Inspired by 1920s Paris wine bars, the bar pairs freshly baked Greggs’ favourites like sausage rolls and steak bakes with bubbly from France and Italy for a boujee twist. Whether you're sipping a glass of Perrier-Jouët with your pastry or indulging in cocktails like the Yum Yum Twist or the Cream Éclair, it's an unmissable experience. But don't wait too long - the fizz is only flowing until 31st December. Pop in and raise a glass before it’s too late!
And if that wasn’t enough bakery news for you, don’t worry – there’s more (you know how us Brits just love
a baked good). Aldi is ramping up its presence in the bakery market, rolling out further fresh in-store bakeries with everything from barms (or whatever you call them in your part of the world) and bagels, to sweet treats and pastries. It’s been a slow start since launching in 2019, but the number of stores with bakeries has now jumped to 25, expanding across the South East and East of England. Meanwhile, Lidl is proving to be the (bread)winner
in the current battle of the budget supermarkets, with its bakery and loyalty app helping it move ahead in the sales race - up 8.8% in the past year compared to Aldi’s 1.8%. You can read more about the bakery battle here.
In Manufacturing...
Go-Ahead, one of the UK's largest bus operators, has teamed up with bus manufacturer Wrightbus for a massive £500 million investment to green up their fleet. Over the next three years, they’ll be rolling out 1,200 new zero-emission buses, creating around 500 manufacturing jobs at Wrightbus and supporting another 2,000 jobs across the UK supply chain. This big move comes the same month as the International Investment Summit, with the government backing it as part of their push to boost the economy and clean up local transport. Read more about how this investment is driving growth and greener transport here.
A strawberry-picking robot is being trialled in Essex, and it could be a game changer for the UK’s farming industry! Developed by researchers at the University of Essex and jam makers Wilkin & Sons, the advanced bot can pluck a strawberry in just 2.5 seconds. What’s even better is that it costs a fraction of the usual price – around £10,000 compared to the £150,000 for other crop-picking robots. Funded by a £1.02 million Defra grant, the project aims to make robotic harvesting accessible for all farms, especially smaller ones struggling with labour shortages. And it’s not stopping at strawberries - the robot’s modular design means it could soon be picking onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and more. Wilkin & Sons are thrilled to be involved in tackling what they see as the industry’s biggest challenge. Keep an eye out for more innovation in the fields as the trial progresses.
In Warehousing...
InPost, the company behind thousands of parcel lockers across Europe, has announced its full acquisition of Menzies Distribution Group, the UK logistics firm. InPost already held a 30% share of Menzies, having bought it for £49.3m last year. The Luxembourg-based company, who makes most of its profit in Poland, has seen its value rise significantly in recent months, becoming one of Europe’s biggest 'last-mile solutions' operators. The acquisition will further strengthen InPost’s position in the UK market, expanding its capabilities in parcel delivery and logistics. You can read the announcement in full here.
In Waste and Recycling...
Burning household rubbish to generate electricity has become the UK’s dirtiest form of power, according to a BBC analysis. Almost half of the rubbish from UK homes, in particular plastic, is being incinerated, creating greenhouse gases. While incineration was once seen as a cleaner alternative to landfill, the rise in plastic waste has made it a climate problem. Despite growing concerns and calls to stop building new incinerators, more are still being built, leaving councils stuck in long-term contracts. Critics say this is hurting recycling efforts and creating more pollution. Find out more about the UK's incineration issue and its impact here
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