BP ready to offload gas and oil assets even if crude prices bounce back August 7, 2020 BP will look to sell a considerable portion of its oil and gas assets even if crude oil prices rebound from the crash caused by Covid-19. Moving forward, the FTSE 100 group wants to invest in more renewable energy – a strategy that was discussed at the company’s executives meeting in July, according to Reuters. [...]
Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip harmed confidence in Covid-19 response August 7, 2020 A breach of lockdown rules by top aide Dominic Cummings directly harmed public confidence in the UK government’s coronavirus response, a study said today. The incident caused a clear decrease of public confidence in the government’s ability to handle the pandemic, which started from the day the story broke and has not recovered since, a [...]
It’s time epidemiological models faced the same scrutiny as banks August 7, 2020 After the global financial crisis of 2009, Basel, the international standard setting body for banking regulation, conducted a thorough analysis of banks’ internal models. Banks had been allowed considerable discretion in the way in which they modelled their risks to justify the amount of capital they should hold against them. Basel’s analysts found that the [...]
DEBATE: Are the new planning reforms what’s needed to help alleviate Britain’s housing crisis? August 7, 2020 Are the new planning reforms what’s needed to help alleviate Britain’s housing crisis? James Heywood, head of welfare and opportunity at the Centre for Policy Studies, says YES. The new planning White Paper is surprisingly radical and, though the devil is in the detail, the reforms it sets out are hugely encouraging. Our current Kafkaesque [...]
Wanted: A plan to save London August 7, 2020 The motto of the City of London is “Domine dirige nos”: Lord, direct us. But who is directing the capital as we struggle to comprehend the future in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic? In the UK, we are notoriously poor at strategic planning (except, perhaps, in times of war). Partly, this is an ideological [...]
Let’s give our SMEs all the help they need to expand overseas — by tackling unfair payment charges August 7, 2020 Coronavirus has changed our lives, there’s no denying that. But it’s also changed the way a huge number of businesses operate on a daily basis. We’re not just seeing SMEs cope with new track and trace systems and social distancing rules. They’re revolutionising the way they make money, moving operations online, and even going cashless [...]
Can a new Scots Tory leader regain the party’s mojo? August 7, 2020 The Scottish Tories have got themselves a new leader. This might not move share prices or the relative values of sterling, and gossipers in the markets will now be asking “who is Douglas Ross?” But the same could have been said of Ruth Davidson back in 2011 when she became leader, shortly before her phenomenal [...]
UK retail footfall continues slow recovery in July August 7, 2020 UK retail footfall continued to improve in July as shoppers tentatively returned to the high street following the coronavirus lockdown. Footfall was down 42 per cent in July, an improvement on the 62.6 per cent decline recorded in the previous month. High street footfall decreased 47.5 per cent, also up on the 64.5 per cent [...]
July retail sales dampen hopes of quick high street recovery August 7, 2020 Retail sales continued to fall in July despite the reopening of non-essential stores, dampening hopes of a quick bounce back on the high street. Like-for-like sales in bricks and mortar stores fell 39.4 per cent in July compared to growth of 0.1 per cent in the same month last year. Last month was also the [...]
Finance understands the vital role it plays in recovery August 7, 2020 Stephen Pegge is Managing Director of Commercial Finance at UK Finance From the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, the banking and finance industry has understood the critical role it plays in helping steer businesses through the sudden business interruption and uncertain outlook. The lockdown was vital to halt the spread of the virus. But it’s [...]