Budget 2021: UK to spend extra £1.65bn on Covid vaccine rollout February 28, 2021 Rishi Sunak will boost the UK’s Covid vaccine rollout in Wednesday’s Budget by pledging to spend a further £1.65bn on the distribution of the two available jabs. The chancellor said last night that the programme had been “a great success” and that it was “essential we maintain this momentum” by providing more funding for the [...]
Heathrow’s new pandemic tax pushes up flight prices February 28, 2021 Heathrow Airport has added a new charge on all outbound flights in a move that will make flights more expensive. The airport will be charging £8.90 extra to all outbound flights from April in what the airport is calling a United Kingdom Exceptional Regulatory Charge. It comes after Heathrow posted a £2bn annual loss earlier [...]
Video game firm Catalis mulls London IPO February 28, 2021 The parent company of video game publisher Catalis is eyeing a public listing just over a year after being bought by a private equity firm. The firm is reportedly set to capitalise on the boom in video games amid the pandemic and join a host of young tech companies on the stock exchange. The company [...]
Budget: ‘Now not the time for harsh cleansing of the economy’, warns Brewin Dolphin’s chief strategist February 28, 2021 The UK government’s actions throughout the Covid pandemic, to protect the livelihoods of many., has led to a national debt pile not seen since World War 2. No wonder all eyes are now on next week’s Budget. With the vaccine rollout well under way, thoughts are slowly turning to how the UK can reduce its debt, [...]
Paddy Power owner Flutter hands staff £14m February 28, 2021 Gambling giant Flutter Entertainment is set to give 14,000 staff a £1,000 bonus as a result of their work during the pandemic. The Paddy Power owner saw profit slide 70 per cent after major sports events were cancelled amid the pandemic. Chief executive Peter Jackson said “maybe we are all bookmakers at heart [and] there [...]
Budget 2021: Sunak eyes tax on online deliveries and freelance workers February 28, 2021 Rishi Sunak is reportedly preparing to announce new taxes on online deliveries and freelance workers in Wednesday’s Budget to help pay off the UK’s Covid spending. The tax would likely target online firms like Amazon and Asos who have seen profits soar over the past year, after people spent much of 2020 in lockdown. It [...]
Budget 2021: Rishi Sunak hints at tax rises next week February 28, 2021 Rishi Sunak has hinted that he will raise taxes in the Budget on Wednesday, saying that he wanted to “level” with people about the fiscal challenges to come. He also suggested that he would extend Covid support schemes in his Budget, as expected, saying “we went big, we went early and there’s more to come”. [...]
Lloyd’s of London plans to reopen underwriting room from 17 May February 27, 2021 Lloyd’s of London is reportedly planning to reopen its underwriting room from 17 May for a few hundred people. The City stalwart is one of the first firms to lay out its initial plans for getting workers back into the Square Mile after the coronavirus pandemic. The Telegraph reported that Lloyd’s will allow 30 per [...]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sees profit rise on stock market charge February 27, 2021 Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said that a surge in prices of stocks like Apple had taken the investment firm to a profit of $36bn. The Nebraska-headquartered firm said that quarterly income rose 14 per cent to $5bn, while net income jumped 23 per cent to $35.8bn. The firm has been the beneficiary of a stock [...]
Budget 2021: Sunak pledges £22bn for new infrastructure bank February 27, 2021 Rishi Sunak will use Wednesday’s Budget to announce billions of pounds of funding for the UK’s new infrastructure bank, which is due to launch in the spring. Announced as part of November’s spending review, the bank is part of Sunak’s pledge to provide “once in a generation” investment into the UK’s infrastructure. The Treasury said [...]