London small business boss blasts Barclays over coronavirus loan scheme May 5, 2020 Small businesses are at risk of collapse due to stringent eligibility rules for emergency coronavirus loans, the boss of a London marketing agency rejected for a loan has warned. Richard Cox, co-founder of The Village Communications, accused banks of a “complete lack of interest” in helping small firms that were struggling to stay afloat during [...]
Rival states launch cyber attacks on UK and US coronavirus labs May 5, 2020 British and American spooks have issued an urgent warning after uncovering a string of cyber attacks launched by rival states against healthcare organisations fighting coronavirus. Healthcare bodies, pharmaceutical companies and local government organisations in the UK and US have all been targeted in the attacks, which are aimed at gathering information about the Covid-19 outbreak. [...]
Quicker testing would have been ‘beneficial’ says chief scientific adviser May 5, 2020 The UK’s chief scientific adviser has told MPs it would have been “beneficial” to have ramped up testing for coronavirus quicker. Sir Patrick Vallance told the Commons Health Select Committee that testing alone would not control the virus. The UK government moved away from contact tracing and testing in the community before lockdown started. Instead, [...]
Sky launches £1m advertising fund for small businesses May 5, 2020 Sky has today launched a £1m fund that will provide free TV advertising campaigns to 100 small businesses hit by the coronavirus crisis. The scheme is available to small and medium sized businesses that have been running for at least a year in the UK with up to 50 full-time employees. Companies can nominate themselves [...]
McDonald’s to reopen 15 UK restaurants amid lockdown – with one big difference May 5, 2020 McDonalds has announced which 15 restaurants it plans to open for delivery this month, including four branches in London. The fast food giant announced this morning that it will reopen its Tooting, Dalston, Harrow and Welling restaurants on 13 May. However, in order to comply with social distancing measures, McDonald’s will offer a limited menu [...]
Coronavirus: What is the NHS contact-tracing app and how does it work? May 5, 2020 The eagerly-awaited NHS contact-tracing app has been rolled out for the first time today, with key workers on the Isle of Wight the first to trial the new technology. The smartphone app, which is available to healthcare and council workers from today and the rest of the island from Thursday, is expected to be rolled [...]
Coronavirus: England and Wales death toll falls for first time since lockdown began May 5, 2020 The number of deaths in England and Wales fell for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began, according to data released today for the week to 24 April. England and Wales recorded 21,997 total deaths for the week to 24 April, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed. That is a decline of 354 [...]
How have sustainable companies performed during the Covid-19 crisis? May 5, 2020 | City Talk Rather than being a luxury or an optional extra, our analysis shows that a focus on sustainability would have helped relative performance during the recent market turbulence. Here at Schroders, our view of sustainable investing is that companies who treat their stakeholders fairly will see better share price performance than those who do not. There [...]
SMMT: UK coronavirus crisis wipes out April car sales May 5, 2020 New car sales have tanked 97 per cent amid the UK coronavirus crisis, according to new stats from an industry body today. That effectively means new UK car sales ground to a halt in April, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Just 4,321 cars were sold over the month – 70 per cent [...]
Coronavirus: NHS contact-tracing app trial launched on Isle of Wight May 5, 2020 A new NHS app designed to track the spread of coronavirus has been launched for some workers today as part of a trial on the Isle of Wight. Healthcare and council staff will be the first to test the contact-tracing app, with the rest of the island’s population able to join the trial from Thursday. [...]