Exclusive: Londoners take out 133 per cent more payday loans to cover Christmas this year December 4, 2020 Pressure on households to overspend this Christmas is increasingly making Londoners resort to payday loans to cover the costs of the festive period. Payday loans in London are set to increase by 133 per cent as households struggle to cover the costs of the holidays, according to the findings of a survey that pan-European credit [...]
Sadiq Khan launches £1m Resilience Fund for London’s post-pandemic recovery December 4, 2020 The Mayor of London announced the launch of a £1m Resilience Fund, partnering community groups and innovation experts to tackle London’s most pressing challenges. The Resilience Fund will be delivered in partnership with Nesta Challenges, an innovation foundation. Local authorities, public agencies, social enterprise will be asked to identify specific challenges they need solved. Sadiq [...]
Crossrail employs 140 drivers on £62k more than a year before line is due to open December 4, 2020 Crossrail has employed 140 drivers to operate its trains in central London, even though trial runs will not start until next year. Drivers’ union Aslef confirmed that pay for Crossrail drivers is set at £62,533 per year with a 2 per cent pay rise due to come into place next April. Transport for London (TfL) [...]
Vaccine news leads to surge in London business confidence: Lloyds November 30, 2020 London business confidence increased following the news a Covid-19 vaccine may soon be a reality. According to the Lloyds Bank’s Business Barometer for 2020, overall confidence of firms in London rose five points in November to -19 per cent.Firms’ confidence with their own business prospects was -18 per cent, compared to -16 per cent in [...]
UK has ‘significant’ ethnic wealth gaps, latest data suggest November 27, 2020 Wealth in the UK is divided along ethnic lines, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics suggest. White British headed households were the wealthiest ethnic group, according to data collected between 2016 and 2018. White households had a median net worth of nine times that of Black African households, the least wealthy ethnic [...]
Travel giant records 62 per cent sales spike as consumer confidence grows November 27, 2020 London-based travel giant Not Just Travel recorded a 62 per cent surge in bookings this week. The top holiday destinations booked by consumers, in order of preference, were the USA, the Canary Islands, Dubai, Lapland and the Maldives. Not Just Travel co-founders Steve Witt and Paul Harrison attributed this increase in bookings to Black Friday [...]
Germany to double net borrowing for 2021 after suspending budget rule November 27, 2020 Germany will double its initially planned borrowing for 2021 to help finance businesses hit hard by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers said Friday morning. The parliamentary budget committee has agreed to a debt of €180bn (£160bn), almost twice the originally planned €96bn (£85bn). This is the second largest amount of net borrowing [...]
Boris Johnson vows ‘no return to austerity’ amid plans to freeze public sector pay November 20, 2020 Nearly 4m public sector workers may face a pay freeze next year, including soldiers, police officers, teachers and civil servants
China urges US to stop ‘arbitrary suppression of investments’ November 13, 2020 China hit back at Trump’s ban on U.S. companies investing in firms linked to the Chinese military. During a press conference earlier today, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin answered a reporter’s question on the ban by saying the US should stop its “arbitrary suppression of investments”. He added that the US government had been [...]
NHS providers urge Rishi Sunak to invest extra £4bn due to Covid challenges November 13, 2020 NHS providers sent a letter to Rishi Sunak today demanding he increases investment in the NHS by £4bn, in light of the upcoming public spending review on 25 November. The letter is co-signed by Chris Hopson and Saffron Cordery, respectively the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Providers, the membership organisation for the [...]