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Nicola Sturgeon Covid update: How Scottish business leaders reacted

North-east club owner says 'come back and enjoy life again' following easing of Covid-19 restrictions

Covid Scotland: Businesses 'cannot afford' delay to beyond level 0

Smaller firms on a high, but rising costs and staff shortages threaten mood

Updated: July 26, 2021, 1:05 pm FSB Scotland policy chairman Andrew McRae Smaller firms throughout Scotland are more optimistic than they have been any time since the summer of 2015, according to new research. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) study also found the average Scottish business is now more hopeful about prospects than its UK-wide equivalent for the first time since the third quarter of 2020. FSB’s Scottish small business confidence index rose to +20.5 points this summer, from +18.8 points in the first quarter of the year. The equivalent UK-wide figure fell to +18.6 points, from +27.3 points in the first three months of 2021. The index measures whether firms believe trading conditions will improve or deteriorate over the next three months.

Staff struggles for Scots SMEs as 'pingdemic' worries mount

Nearly a third of Scottish SMEs with growth ambitions for the coming year say their plans will be hampered by a lack of access to skilled staff, according to a new survey out today. The figures from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) come amid rising concerns that the “pingdemic” is exacerbating labour shortages caused by the outflow of EU workers in the wake of Brexit. It is feared this will hinder economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, with London’s Metropolitan line, retailer Iceland and hospitality group Greene King among those who have had to suspend services or temporarily close outlets because of high numbers of staff being told to self-isolate.