Coronavirus: Billionaire entrepreneur John Caudwell calls on government to extend business support April 21, 2020 Billionaire businessman John Caudwell has called on the government to ramp up its coronavirus support scheme, including underwriting 100 per cent of business loans and extending the job retention scheme. Caudwell, who co-founded Phones4u, said the government must provide 100 per cent loan guarantees to encourage banks to lend to struggling businesses. The government is [...]
Admiral shares up as insurer issues £110m refund to customers during lockdown April 21, 2020 Shares in Admiral jumped three per cent today after the insurer announced it will refund £110m to customers as the coronavirus lockdown has reduced the need for car travel. Admiral said this morning that there are fewer cars on the road, and therefore it expects to receive fewer insurance claims. The insurance company will refund [...]
Italy to relax lockdown restrictions from early May April 21, 2020 Italy will this week outline plans to lift its coronavirus lockdown, with some restrictions expected to be eased from 4 May. The country, which has been one of the worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, has been under lockdown since 9 March. Italy’s lockdown has seen most businesses close and people only allowed out of [...]
WHO: Coronavirus likely came from animals, not China lab April 21, 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests the novel coronavirus originated in animals in China late last year and was not manipulated or produced in a laboratory. US President Donald Trump said last week that his government was trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in [...]
Coronavirus: Oktoberfest cancelled due to pandemic April 21, 2020 Oktoberfest has been cancelled due to fears about the coronavirus outbreak, organisers confirmed today. The historic knees-up is the largest beer festival in the world, attracting roughly 6m visitors to Munich each year. But in a joint statement Bavaria’s minister president Markus Soeder and Munich’s lord mayor Dieter Reiter said the festival would not go [...]
Coronavirus: UK spooks block 2,000 scams in Covid-19 cyber campaign April 21, 2020 British spy chiefs have taken down more than 2,000 online scams linked to coronavirus in the last month as they crack down on cyber criminals trying to exploit the health crisis. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it had closed down 471 fake online shops selling fraudulent virus-related items, as well as 555 malware [...]
Coronavirus: England and Wales weekly deaths hit 20-year high April 21, 2020 England and Wales experienced their highest weekly death toll since 2000 earlier this month, with coronavirus responsible for a third of the 18,516 deaths. The total for the week ending 10 April was 2,129 higher than the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). And it is 41 per cent higher than [...]
Coronavirus: Fleet-of-foot fintech firms will play a part in the recovery April 21, 2020 As coronavirus-hit nations come close to hitting their peaks, and some soften their social distancing rules, the time has come to look ahead to the prospect of recovery. In that respect, the letters V, U, W and L will become highly significant in the coming months. The shape of economic recovery is one of the [...]
Coronavirus: Five things entrepreneurs should be asking their investors April 21, 2020 Fundraising is tricky and time-consuming at the best of times — let alone when there’s a global pandemic. To maximise chances of success in these turbulent times, entrepreneurs with venture capital (VC) funding should remember that a VC is more than just an investor. Many have been entrepreneurs and operators themselves, have experienced uncertain times [...]
Unemployment rate set to surge in UK coronavirus lockdown April 21, 2020 The UK unemployment rate is set to rocket amid the coronavirus lockdown, economists warned today as data showed employment at a record high before March. But job vacancies sank by 52,000 year on year to 795,000 for the first three months of 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. UK unemployment also inched up [...]