EU to impose tougher controls on Covid vaccine exports to the UK March 24, 2021 The EU has updated its vaccine export restrictions to enforce tougher controls on shipments of jabs to the UK, as a bitter dispute over Covid vaccine supplies continues to escalate. The fresh restrictions, which are due to go before EU leaders tomorrow, stop short of a total ban on vaccine exports but are likely to [...]
Exclusive: Small business owners on what is happening in the real economy March 24, 2021 The City was hit with some sobering figures earlier this month, as official data showed UK GDP shrank by a staggering 9.9 per cent in 2020, the largest drop on record. The figures were less bad than expected, which led PwC to conclude that British businesses are becoming more adaptable to lockdowns from an economic [...]
Concerns over prolonged restrictions as looming third Covid wave overshadows upbeat PMI data March 24, 2021 Mounting concerns about a third wave of Covid-19 cases across the UK and Europe are adding to expectations that economies may reopen later than initially predicted. The shift in market sentiment is weighing on stocks as they are extending losses with covid concerns even overshadowing today’s upbeat PMI data. “Fears over the impact of tighter [...]
Manpower CEO: Remote working isn’t unsustainable but it’s certainly not desirable March 24, 2021 Reports on the death of office working have been exaggerated, according to Manpower CEO Jonas Prising. However, so too has the backlash against remote working exemplified by the bosses of Barclays and Goldman Sachs (who labelled the work-from-home era an abheration). So, one year on from the Prime Minister’s orders to “work from home if [...]
Ministers mull making home and flexible working a legal right March 24, 2021 The government is said to be weighing up an expansion of employees’ rights to work flexible hours or from home after a shift in habits during the coronavirus pandemic. A public consultation is set to be launched later this year on how the flexible approach to office life could be extended so that Brits can [...]
Covid-19, a year on: What small businesses have learnt March 24, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks back at the last year of the pandemic and Covid restrictions and takes stock of its impact on industries and issues at the heart of British society. Read more: Read the full Covid-19, a year on series here. Some you win, and some you learn. Small businesses have certainly been “learning” [...]
Covid vaccinations: ‘Greed’ to thank for UK’s rapid jab rollout, PM says March 24, 2021 The Prime Minister reportedly told backbench MPs that the UK’s Covid vaccination success was due to “capitalism” and “greed”. Boris Johnson “very insistently” retracted the statement shortly after making them during a private Zoom call with Conservative MPs. The BBC reported that the remarks were not related to the ongoing clash with the European Union [...]
No injection: Pfizer begins human trials of Covid pill March 23, 2021 Pfizer has begun early-stage human trials of a pill to treat the first signs of Covid infection, the company announced today. The US pharmaceuticals giant said the oral treatment had “demonstrated potent” activity against Sars-Cov-2 in previous trials. If it succeeds in human trials, the pill could be prescribed to those recently infected with coronavirus [...]
Spain to lift travel ban on UK arrivals from next week March 23, 2021 Spain is set to lift a ban on arrivals from Britain from 30 March, three months after suspending flights from the UK following concerns over the Kent Covid strain. A ban on all UK arrivals to Spain by air and sea has been in place since 22 December. Government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told a [...]
Going Dutch: Downing Street refuses to rule out sharing Astrazeneca vaccines with EU March 23, 2021 Downing Street has refused to rule out sharing British supplies of the Astrazeneca vaccine made in the Netherlands with the EU to avert an exports ban from the bloc. Asked whether the UK would be willing to offer some of the Dutch-made jabs to Europe, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Boris Johnson has “set [...]