Interface link-ups boost the economy
This budget SUV makes up for its shortcomings with a focus on value, writes Matt Allan
Scotland’s economy and society have drawn “significant benefits” from a link-up between business and academia.
Local, national and international businesses have gained from tapping into universities and colleges through the Interface service, which has team members located across the country.
The contribution to the Scottish economy from research and development projects between businesses and academics enabled by Interface was almost £89 million gross value added (GVA), while supporting 1,595 jobs, with expectations to reach more than £222m GVA, and some 3,200 jobs.
Carried out by economic consultancy Biggar Economics, the report drew on evidence from a range of sources including the 329 collaborative projects which Interface brokered from August 2019 to July 2020, along with in-depth interviews with businesses that have benefited from the free service.
The findings also captured the wider wellbeing and environmental benefits to society as the collaborative projects tackled major challenges such as health improvement, low carbon, community support, delivering education, helping young people, supporting international development and alleviating poverty.
The Contribution of Interface to Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth study said: “The need to do things differently, to innovate, is crucial for Scotland’s recovery from Covid-19 and to meet its net zero carbon targets.
“The evidence presented demonstrates that Interface is a value for money service that delivers right across the economy, creating GVA and jobs while also driving sustainable and inclusive growth and well-being.”
Siobhán Jordan, director of Interface, said: “This report shows the significant gains right across Scotland, from the smallest community to the largest city, when innovation and ideas flourish through businesses and academic partnerships.
“We are in a position to make a real difference to all aspects of society through the connections we catalyse enabling world leading research to be purposeful. Our regional team members are a bridge to local business and community networks as well as to universities, colleges and research institutes.”
Interface pointed to a successful history of businessacademic partnerships with demand for the service increasing consistently since it was established in 2005. The service has delivered more than 2,500 business-academic collaborations.
Karen Watt, chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), said:
As we look towards economic recovery after the pandemic, this report is another reminder of Scotland’s resilience. It also highlights the part Sfcfunded Interface plays as a catalyst for collaborations between businesses and academics.”
The report is based on information provided to Biggar Economics by Interface, including impact data from more than 400 businesses.
As sterling soared against the dollar, and trouble brewed in US markets, London’s top companies were left as the biggest losers on a bad day for global investors.
The FTSE 100 index ended the day down by 1.4 per cent, or 93.75 points, to 6617.15.
The pound hit an almost three-year high on Thursday, and was trading at around 1.3954 against the dollar, a rise of 0.7 per cent. It also gained 0.3 per cent against the euro, ending the day at 1.1554.
When the pound rises it often puts pressure on the FTSE, whose components trade heavily in dollars.
But traders in London were also taking their cues from their international counterparts, not least in the US, where the Dow Jones retreated from an all-time high that it had hit on Wednesday.
The Dow was trading down by 0.8 per cent when markets closed in Europe, and its fellow New York index, the S&P 500, had lost 0.9 per cent.
“A combination of doubts introduced by the Dow Jones, and the ascension of sterling, left the FTSE as far and away Thursday’s worst performer,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
“With sterling’s surge creating a nightmare for its numerous multinationals, the FTSE sank by 1.6 per cent, leaving it precariously balanced a couple of points above 6,600.
“It has now more than wiped out the explosive growth that opened the week, returning the UK index to where it closed last Friday.”
The early week surge was created by optimism surrounding the UK’S progress on vaccinations.
France’s Cac index lost 0.7 per cent, while the Dax in Frankfurt closed down 0.1 per cent.
Among London’s companies, investors rewarded Moneysupermarket with a 7 per cent rise in its share price even after it revealed an 11 per cent revenue fall due to Covid travel restrictions which ate into demand for travel insurance.
A Valentine’s Day surge for card retailer Moonpig means its revenues will now double during the current financial year, it revealed on Thursday, sending shares up more than 5 per cent.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Auto Trader, up 10.6p at 603.8p; Sage, up 8p at 604.2p; Ashtead, up 342p at 3,914p; Barratt Developments, up 6.4p at 686.4p; and Kingfisher, up 2.2p at 277.6p.
The biggest fallers were Rolls-royce, down 8.96p at 93.34p; Smith and Nephew, down 92.5p at 1,475p; Imperial Brands, down 84p at 1,421p; Barclays, down 6.86p at 147.5p; and BP, down 11.2p at 269.4p.
The Ssangyong Tivoli is worthy of note for a couple of reasons. It was the first compact SUV from a brand known for large and fairly agricultural 4x4s and since its launch in 2015 it has become the South Korean firm’s best-selling model.
It has since been joined by all-new versions of the brand’s bigger Rexton and Korado 4x4s and the Musso pick-up but remains the star sales performer, despite being nearly six years old.
Some bigger brands might launch an all-new car in that timeframe but, with relatively limited resources, that’s not an option for Ssangyong so, instead, last year the Tivoli got a bit of a facelift and some tinkering beneath the surface.
The update brought relatively minor changes to the exterior, with a new grille and lighting design the biggest differences. So, as before, the tivo li won’ t be competing for any beauty prizes thanks to its fairly boxy and uninspiring looks.
Under the bonnet, a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is another new addition and it’s surprisingly powerful for the size of the car – 160bhp from the 1.5-litre gives it an onpaper advantage over a lot of rivals. However, it still feels oldfashioned and relatively unrefined in operation and, especially with our test car’s six-speed auto box, economy is a real weakness. Official figures are 36.7mpg and 175g/ km, but our test average was just 33mpg – pretty poor in a segment where many others manage mid-40s with ease.
In its defence, the similarly priced MG ZS has significantly less power without much advantage in the economy stakes while the 44mpg Dacia Duster doesn’t have an auto option.
On the road, the Tivoli’s manners suggest that driving dynamics weren’t high up the priority list for the engineering team either. More expensive rivals have moved things on in terms of ride, handling and refinement but the Tivoli feels firm over bad surfaces yet displays a distinctly old-fashioned amount of body roll. It’s not bad in isolation, just not up to the increasingly good standard in the segment.
Still, Ssangyong has never focused on being at the bleeding edge of dynamics, its big selling point has always been value and the tivo li continues to wave that more-bang-for-your-buck-flag.
Starting at less than £15,000, only the Dacia Duster and MG ZS come close to it in terms of price in the segment. Our topspec Ultimate test car was a shade under £20,000 and packed in everything but the kitchen sink for the same price as the entry-level version on some rivals.
Heated leather seats and steering wheel? Check. Dualzone air con? Check. An sat nav-equipped eight-inch Android and Apple-compatible touchscreen? Check. Configurable digital instruments? Check. The list goes on with 18-inch diamond-cut alloys, a reversing camera and sensors all round, keyless entry and start, cruise control, all-round electric windows, privacy glass, auto-dipping headlights, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition, forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking.
The Tivoli’s interior was also updated for 2020 but still gives away the car’s age. A new centre stack appears shoehorned into the space left by the old setup. it’s a fairlyi nelegant solution and looks like it’s been done on a budget but it does mean the controls are better looking, more tactile and much easier to use than before. The standardinstruments have also been replaced in Ultimate models with a sharp 10.25-inch digital display with selectable modes.
The rather mixed bag of materials and layout aside, the Tivoli’s interior is one of its strongest suits. Large windows make it feel airy and there’s an impressive amount of passenger space, with good head and leg room and comfortable seats. The boot is among the biggest in its class too, meaning the Tivoli scores well for practicality.
Ssangyong’s range has enjoyed a significant upgrade in the years since the Tivolilaunc he d and the impressive qualities of its stable mates leave the Tivoli feeling like the weakest model, showing its age despite attempts to update it. In a direct comparison with other modern compact crossovers it’s also slightly behind the pace in some key areas. however, for low-mileage and budget conscious buyers it reclaims some ground by being more practical, better equipped and significantly cheaper. There’s also the matter of a hefty sevenyear, 150,000-mile warranty.
Iwant to get a couple of numbers out of the way right at the start of this. The first is 91mpg – the official WLTP economy for this Ford Transit Custom PHEV. The second is £50,160 which is the price for this particular plug-in hybrid van after options.
For reference, the Transit Custom range starts at around £23,000 so this hybrid is, on the face of it, not a cheap option.
But it’s a van with a very particular audience for whom the steep on-paper price is balanced by the real-world costs.
As more and more cities introduce low-emissions zonesbusinessesneedtoadapt their fleets with less polluting models to avoid punishing charges. But for many firms a big load-lugging van is still a necessity.
Manufacturers are rapidly bringing out 100 per cent electric vans which are great if all your business is conducted within a small geographical area but if you need to move goods long distances they can’t match an old-fashioned diesel van.
That’s where this Ford Transit Custom PHEV comes in, offering the ability to pootle around in EV mode for up to 35 miles yet cover around 310
milesonafulltankandbattery.
Under the bonnet where you’d usually find a 2.0-litre diesel is a 1.0-litre Ecoboost petrol engine, like you’d find in a Fiesta. Even more unusually, this isn’t actually connected to the wheels. Instead it acts as a range-extending generator for the 92.9kw electric motor and its 13.6kwh battery.
Aslongasthere’ssomecharge in the battery, the Transit will start up in pure EV mode and operate like any other electric vehicle. That means pick-up is smooth, immediate, linear and surprisingly sprightly off the mark. However, after that initial surge the 124bhp motor doesn’t have a surfeit of shove.
It’s also remarkably quiet despite the echo-chamber shapeofthevan.itisonlywhen the engine kicks in that things get a bit rough and shouty, especially if it is powering the motor directly.
Four drive modes let you choose how the van uses its power sources. EV Now locks it into pure EV mode, EV Later fires up the motor to keep the batteries topped up, EV Charge uses the engine to charge the battery and power the motor at the same time while EV Auto figures out the best arrangement for the driving conditions.
What you get out of this arrangement depends on how you plan to use. Long-distance runs will deplete the battery reserves fairly quickly, especially at motorway speeds, leaving you burning a gallon of fuel for every 30 miles or so. The payoff is that if your van is used primarily for a lot of short local runs you’ll use very little fuel as it operates in EV or hybrid mode.
While the drivetrain is unconventional, everything else about the Transit PHEV is pleasantly familiar.
The PHEV is only available in the shorter wheelbase, low-roof bodystyle (L1H1) but offers the same six cubic metre capacity in the load area as any diesel powered version and a slightly lower net payload of 1,130kg. So for most users it’s as capable of the day-to-day tasks as any other Transit.
And in the cabin it’s a familiar story with an upright but comfortable driving position and the usual endless storage spaces that’ll hold everything from loose change and phones to two-litre drinks bottles and A4 folders.
Standard Leader spec vans come with a basic 4.2-inch TFT screen and DAB but our test vehicle was specced with the £1,332 ICE Pack that adds an eight-inch touchscreen with smartphone mirroring, sat nav, emergency assistance and two extra USB sockets.
Other options including bright-as-day LED lighting in the load area and metallic paint pushed the price of our van up from £47,214 to £50,160.
That’s a lot of money for a van andthetransitcustomphev’s value will depend hugely on how you use it.
Theideaofalong-rangehauler with the capacity for zeroemissions “final mile” work is anappealingonebutthephev is better thought of as an lowemissions urban vehicle that’s capable of taking a 250-mile trip in its stride.
Used like that and with a charge time of under three hours, it’s an attractive prospect for city-centre businesses especially when you start to consider the tax benefits of its sub-70g/km emissions.