Emsworth Business Association - Emsworth, Hampshire

HAVANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS (No 35)

APRIL 2012

UNEMPLOYMENT AND JOBS NEWS

Unemployment figures.

These was a welcome fall in unemployment in Havant (down 54 from last month)

Unemployed Claimants and Residential Unemployment Rate:				March 2012
Havant
Census Area Statistic Ward	Males		Females		Total
Census Area Statistic Ward	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Barncroft	186	10.3	69	3.6	255	6.9
Battins	221	11.4	89	4.2	310	7.7
Bedhampton	112	4.1	54	2.0	166	3.0
Bondfields	183	8.8	72	3.5	255	6.1
Cowplain	67	2.4	39	1.4	106	1.9
Emsworth	64	2.7	40	1.6	104	2.1
Hart Plain	166	5.9	66	2.2	232	4.0
Hayling East	96	3.8	48	1.8	144	2.8
Hayling West	77	3.6	31	1.3	108	2.4
Purbrook	89	3.2	43	1.5	132	2.3
St Faith's	97	3.9	53	2.0	150	2.9
Stakes	183	5.9	84	2.6	267	4.2
Warren Park	260	12.7	123	5.2	383	8.7
Waterloo	110	3.9	46	1.6	156	2.8
Havant*	1,911	5.5	857	2.4	2,768	3.9

NEETS

Number of young people age 16 -18 who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) figures supplied by HCC.

NEET By Ward - January 2012
Ward	No. of YP in Cohort	No. of NEET YP	Actual NEET %
Barncroft	285	19	6.7%
Battins	257	16	6.2%
Bedhampton	279	8	2.9%
Bondfields	269	21	7.8%
Cowplain	337	4	1.2%
Emsworth	106	4	3.8%
Hart Plain	387	11	2.8%
Hayling East	224	7	3.1%
Hayling West	210	8	3.8%
Purbrook	345	11	3.2%
St Faith's	209	6	2.9%
Stakes	395	10	2.5%
Warren Park	362	24	6.6%
Waterloo	341	11	3.2%
Grand Total	4006	160	4.0%

Benefits and Programmes

The new package of measures aimed at unemployed young people has been launched. It will be known as Youth Contract. The main features are:

Businesses can take on under 25s, with wage incentives worth up to £2,275.
An extra 250,000 work experience places will be provided over the next three years.
An extra 20,000 incentive payments will become available to encourage smaller businesses to recruit their first employee
Extra resource will also allow advisers based in each of the 741 Jobcentre Plus offices to spend more time working with young people and provide a National Careers Service interview.

Young people taking part in a experience placement are more likely to get off benefits and into work, according to DWP research. The first 3,490 young people who took part in the Government placements were 16% more likely to be off benefits 21 weeks after starting than those in a similar group who did not take part.

Job forecasts and surveys

The number of advertised permanent roles for general staffing jobs in the UK (which include sectors such as retail and engineering) increased by 6% month-on-month, offering reassurance that January's positive figures were not just a short-term reaction to the traditional post-Christmas boost.(Adecco)

Jobs

Starting salaries for graduates are projected to decline in real terms this year, falling to the lowest levels since 2003, according to a report into graduate pay and progression by Incomes Data Services (IDS). It's report revealed 90% of businesses are freezing salaries for new graduates this year but the number of graduate jobs set to increase 9.1% in 2012.IDS found there were 46 applicants for every graduate vacancy in 2011, up 12% from 41 in 2010.

According to IDS, the median starting salary for graduates will be £25,000 this year, unchanged from 2011. When adjusted to account for inflation, this reveals a 2% pay cut from £19,020 in 2011 to £18,705 in 2012.

On 6 April this year, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal increased from one to two years’ continuous employment, taking us back to the pre 1999 position.

More than a third of UK graduates have been searching for work for over six months, forcing the same percentage to claim Jobseekers Allowance, according to recruitment website Totaljobs. Almost two fifths (16%) of graduates have applied for more than 100 jobs, without success, with one quarter not managing to secure a single interview

BUSINESS NEWS

Local business news

Seatbelt manufacturing has returned to Havant after a period of 7 years. In 2005 Autoliv closed making several hundred people redundant. (Their site in Penner Road is now occupied by SSE). .Earlier this year Safety Belt Solutions moved into New Lane and started producing set belts for niche applications, such as agricultural vehicles, coaches and fun fair rides. The firm is run by former Autoliv employees and is supported by the HBC business start up grant.

SSE has announced it has started recruiting for 200 more members of staff at its Havant call centre. It already employs 2500 staff at its Penner Road site.

New businesses to Havant

Data received by HBC shows that in the period Jan – March 2012 some 51 new businesses started up or moved to Havant employing 354 people. New businesses included several cleaners, web site designers and video makers.

Area	New firms	Jobs
Emsworth	5	7
Hayling	9	35
Waterlooville (PO7/PO8)	25	268
Havant/Leigh Park	12	44

Business start up grants

The 2012/13 grants programme has opened. Funding is available for 50 new businesses.

First visits.(2012/13)

Recruitment services, childcare services, guest house, second hand record shop, handyman services, plumber, marine engineer, antique furniture shop, Seat belt manufacturing.

Second visits (2011/12 applicants) The following businesses have demonstrated 6 months successful trading and received £500 grants

Chocolate bouquets, catering service, teeth whitening service, daycentre for the elderly, training organisation, stability testing of cosmetics., training services, management consultancy, accountancy, precision engineering,

Women into Business

Approx 25 women attended the meeting held on 17 April at Langstone Conservative Club.

Retail

HAVANT BOROUGH TOWN CENTRES VACANT UNITS

LOCATION

May 2011

Sept. 2011

April 2012

HAVANT

24/255

(9.41%)

25/256

(9.77%)

27/257

(10.50%)

WATERLOOVILLE

18/205

(8.78%)

15/205

(7.32%)

18/205

(8.78%)

LEIGH PARK

26/99

(26.26%)

24/99

(24.24%)

22/99

(22.22%)

EMSWORTH

2/117

(1.71%)

2/117

(1.71%)

3/117

(2.56%)

TOTAL

70/676

(10.35%)

66/677

(9.75%)

70/678

(10.32%)

Havant BC was not awarded any funding from the governments High Street Innovation Fund. Gosport and Fareham were successful, but Portsmouth was also excluded.

Nationally, footfall fell annually in March by -2.1% compared with a decline of just -1.3% in March 2010, and over the Easter weekend footfall was 12.5% lower this year compared with last Easter.

A French market was held in Emsworth on Friday 13 April.

The Old English Sweetshop is shortly opening in London Road, Co-op Travel has closed in Waterlooville, following their takeover by Thomas Cook.

A hair stylist salon is opening soon in Park Road South, Havant, next to the HSBC Bank

Tourism, Catering, Hospitality

Events

Various dates in May – Nine Days Arts Trail

3 May – local elections

6May – Sunrise to Sunset Windsurf for Cancer Research Hayling Island

8-9 May – Boat Project launch

11 -13 May Euroday events, Cowplain School

Skills

The government has announced that Apprenticeships will have to last for a minimum of 12 months guaranteeing improvements in training and workplace learning, The standards will come into force for all age groups from August 2012, subject to consultation with providers and employers. For those aged 19 and over apprenticeships will last between one to four years unless prior learning or attainment has been recorded. Apprenticeships for 16-18 year olds will last a minimum of 12 months without exception.

Havant Skills and Employability Partnership

The last meeting was held on 16 April 2012 at Langstone Hotel. Delegates heard presentations from : Community Empowerment, Whitfield Richardson Partnership and Four Steps training. Delegates were also taken on a tour of the conference facilities at the hotel.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY/PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS

The Funlands Fun fair at Hayling is being put forward as a potential housing site.

Construction work has begun on the Grainger housing development in the West of Waterlooville. The estate in now known as Berewood (previously Newlands) 2500+ homes, schools and community facilities will eventually be built.

A hybrid planning application has been received for the Dunsbury Hill Farm site.

The development site at Fulflood Road, which at one time was going to be a Skill Centre has been let on a 2 year lease.

Havant College have submitted a planning application for a new single-storey building that will include six classrooms, a staff workroom and a tutorial room.

The former War Memorial Hospital in Havant has been bought and will be turned into a care home. The NHS has sold the 83-year-old hospital to a developer which wants to convert the building into a care unit for people with dementia

REGIONAL/GOVERNMENT NEWS

MJ AWARDS

Havant BC received a “Commended” award in the Shared Services category.

LGA CONFERENCE

Sandy Hopkins is guest speaker at the LGA one day conference: Reforming public services: meeting challenges, driving change on Monday 14 May 2012, Smith Square Conference Centre, London SW1

PUSH/SOLENT LEP

No report

BANK OF ENGLAND AGENTS REPORT

• Consumer demand growth remained modest

• There had been tentative signs of a rise in activity in the housing market,

• Investment intentions pointed to a gradual rise in capital spending

• Export growth remained robust, and had edged upward on the month.

• There had been an increase in the rate of growth of business services turnover.

• Contacts reported a modest increase in manufacturing output

• Output in the construction sector was thought to be lower than a year earlier.

• Private sector employment intentions suggested that employment was likely to be broadly flat over the next

six months.