Government launches summer jobs site to stave off UK labour shortages July 16, 2021 The government has launched a summer jobs site in a bid to stave off labour shortages that have hit UK businesses across most sectors. The collision of the pandemic and Brexit has driven workforce shortages across construction, retail, hospitality and transport. The lorry driver shortage has also pushed production delays across other sectors, as supermarkets [...]
US citizen arrest stokes Biden’s fresh Hong Kong business caution July 16, 2021 A US citizen has been arrested in Hong Kong, according to local reports, just hours after the US issued a fresh advisory warning for US businesses in the region. The US citizen, whose identity has not yet been confirmed by Southern China media, has been detained under Beijing’s controversial national security law. The national security [...]
Day three: Belarusian police raid homes of journalists and rights activists July 16, 2021 Police in Belarus have raided the offices and homes of journalists and human rights activists for a third consecutive day today. The so-far three-day search came as the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations and World Health Organisation in Geneva, Simon Manley, said the UK was still “deeply concerned by the human rights situation in [...]
Small shops face £1.7bn debt, says report by ex-boss of Iceland July 16, 2021 Small shops are struggling under £1.7bn debt, the former retail chief of Iceland, has warned. Independent businesses’ borrowing increased fourfold during the pandemic, according to the report. While the money borrowed has allowed small shops to survive, the task of paying back the loans still looms over them, said Bill Grimsey, the author of the [...]
Government unveils new ‘hospitality strategy’ to boost sector post-Covid July 16, 2021 The UK’s hospitality businesses are set to receive increased support through the government’s vocational training programmes in a bid to boost the sector post-Covid. The new “hospitality strategy” will also see the government work with the British Business Bank and other lenders to “support access to finance for hospitality firms so they can invest in [...]
Londoners may be set for bumper 5 per cent TfL fares hike in 2022 July 15, 2021 Londoners could face a 5+ per cent hike in Tube fares next year as Transport for London (TfL) is forced to adjust its prices to ballooning inflation. Under the terms of TfL’s most recent government bailout, the transport body has to increase its prices each year by 1 per cent more than the retail price [...]
City lawyer takes government to High Court over Northern Ireland Protocol July 15, 2021 Four businesses will submit evidence against the government to England’s High Court in the coming weeks in a bid to prove the Northern Ireland Protocol infringes on the European Convention of Human Rights. Clive Thorne, partner at City of London firm McCarthy Denning, is representing the four Northern Irish businesses and says he is trying [...]
Post-Brexit NI: Trade deal has bigger hangups than so-called ‘sausage war’ July 15, 2021 The UK and the European Union’s post-Brexit trade deal has bigger hang-ups than the so-called “sausage war” would have let on, a Northern Ireland retail head told MPs. There are much larger problems that lie ahead for the trade industry, Northern Ireland Retail Consortium director Aodhan Connolly said. Speaking at a hearing on the impacts [...]
Data watchdog teams raid homes and seize computers amid Matt Hancock affair probe July 15, 2021 Teams from the UK’s data watchdog have seized computers after raiding two homes as part of their probe into the leaked CCTV footage of Matt Hancock’s affair. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) searched two addresses in the south of England earlier today, taking personal computer equipment and other electronic devices with them. “In these circumstances, the [...]
Will Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg wear a face mask at PMQs? He keeps MPs guessing July 15, 2021 The Commons Leader also kept colleagues guessing as to whether he will wear a face covering at Prime Minister’s Questions next week, once restrictions have been eased. “Wait and see,” he told fellow MPs. New guidelines, set to come into force on July 19, make mask-wearing compulsory for staff but only “encouraged” for MPs. Unions [...]