Coronavirus: UK confirmed cases rise by over 400 to reach 1,950 March 17, 2020 The Department of Health has announced that there have now been 1,950 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, up from 1,543 yesterday. The jump in cases is the biggest yet recorded in the UK and comes after the government warned that the country was likely to enter a surge. On Twitter the Department also [...]
Reports that mobile networks O2, EE, Vodafone and Three are down March 17, 2020 Users of mobile networks such as O2, EE, Vodafone and Three have said their networks are down. According to website Downdetector.co.uk, users of those services as well Tesco Mobile and Giffgaff have been reporting problems with their services. The outage happened as millions of Brits worked from home in light of the coronavirus epidemic. An [...]
Stobart Group confirms sale of Southend Airport stake but warns of coronavirus delay March 17, 2020 Logistics firm Stobart Group has confirmed that it is in talks to sell a 25 per cent stake in London Southend airport, but that the sale will be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Yesterday Sky News first reported that German-based Avi Alliance had made a £700m approach for a quarter of the airport, with [...]
Amazon workers told to work overtime to meet coronavirus demand March 17, 2020 Workers at Amazon’s warehouses in the UK are being told to work overtime as the company meets the surge in demand amid the coronavirus outbreak. The GMB union said workers across at least four different sites were informed that they had to work “compulsory overtime” from Monday, according to the BBC. Amazon will also hire [...]
Covid-19: IATA calls for $200bn in state aid for beleaguered airlines March 17, 2020 Industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that the world’s airlines may need up to $200bn in government support to see them through the coronavirus crisis. Airlines around the world are in talks with different governments regarding the possibility of state aid as the outbreak continues to devastate the aviation industry. Boeing, [...]
Coronavirus to spark record drop in international travel March 17, 2020 Coronavirus is expected to cause a 10.5 per cent drop in international travel this year – the worst fall on record – as the outbreak sparks chaos across the tourism and leisure industries. Industry consultancy Tourism Economics has downgraded its estimate as coronavirus continues to spread across Europe, prompting governments to impose travel bans and [...]
Business figures urge government to take swift action to mitigate coronavirus impact March 17, 2020 Some of the country’s top business figures have urged the government to take swift action to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on business in the UK. Speaking to the BEIS committee today, the CBI’s chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said: “We need swift action now to try and protect as many jobs as possible,” [...]
Carphone Warehouse to axe 3,000 jobs as it shuts all standalone stores March 17, 2020 Carphone Warehouse today said it will axe 2,900 jobs under plans to close all 531 of its standalone stores. Parent company Dixons Carphone said the radical move was caused by changes in the mobile market, rather than the coronavirus outbreak. The firm said 40 per cent of impacted colleagues were expected to take new roles [...]
Airbus ‘may need government help’ if crisis continues March 17, 2020 European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has suggested that some government support may be needed if the coronavirus crisis lasts several months. The aerospace giant could seek measures to improve liquidity such as state-guaranteed credits, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The prospect of a worse-case scenario is said to have been discussed in [...]
Coronavirus: All Trafalgar Square events cancelled March 17, 2020 All events set to take place at Trafalgar Square have been cancelled by City Hall until further notice. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took the step today to shut down events at the public square, after further social distancing measures were advised by the government yesterday to combat the spread of Covid-19. This means the [...]