UK airports losing £83m a week due to coronavirus October 20, 2020 The UK’s airports are losing £83m a week as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the Airport Operators Association (AOA) revealed this evening. Air travel has been decimated by the pandemic, with the collapse of passenger revenues on course to set the sector back £4.3bn this year. However, the trade body said that the real [...]
Greater Manchester to move into Tier 3 from Friday October 20, 2020 Greater Manchester will move into Tier 3 restrictions from midnight on Thursday night, Boris Johnson has announced. The city will receive an extra £22m of financial support after talks between central and local government fell apart. Mayor Andy Burnham described the offer as “brutal”. “This is no way to run the country in a national [...]
Start of airport testing ‘shot in the arm’ for travel industry October 20, 2020 The launch of the UK’s first pre-departure testing facility at Heathrow Airport has been lauded today amid hopes that it can boost the ailing travel industry. Swissport and Collinson teamed up to launch the facility this morning, with tests costing passengers £80. The programme aims to give travellers their results in less than an hour. [...]
Energy price cap extended for a year protecting 11m households October 20, 2020 About 11m UK households will be protected from being overcharged for their energy bills for another year after the government decided to extend its price cap. The cap, which saves households on standard variable and default tariffs between £75 and £100 every year, will now last until the end of 2021. Since it was first [...]
Record 30m Americans vote early ahead of US election October 20, 2020 Almost 30m US citizens have already voted ahead of November’s presidential election, more than a fifth of 2016’s total tally of ballots. With early voting today having opened in the swing state of Florida, over 29.6m in person or postal votes have already been counted. In 2016, there were 136.6m votes cast in total, but [...]
Wall Street closes in the red as stimulus talks grind on October 19, 2020 Wall Street closed lower this evening as deadlock over a new stimulus package raised concerns that time was running out to agree a deal before the election on 3 November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4 per cent, to 28,207, the S&P 500 lost 1.6 per cent to hit 3,427.37 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq [...]
London Metal Exchange ‘Ring’ to remain shut for six more months October 19, 2020 The London Metal Exchange’s (LME) iconic “Ring trading” floor will remain shut for six more months, it was revealed today, raising the prospect of its permanent closure. Since the 1800s, traders at the LME have shouted buy and sell orders for metals while seated around a red curricular sofa but the days of one of [...]
A View to a Kill-ing: Sotheby’s set for historic James Bond auction October 19, 2020 Mayfair’s Bond Street will next month host an exhibition dedicated to its spy namesake as part of an online auction of memorabilia from nearly 70 years of the British franchise.
London Chamber of Commerce launches Black Business Association October 19, 2020 London’s business trade body has today launched a new programme to support black business ownership and black employees in the capital. The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has set up the Black Business Association to enable networking and promote entrepreneurship. It will also provide a forum to collectively discuss barriers to equality in [...]
Railway bailout could cost taxpayer nearly £10bn this year October 16, 2020 It could cost the taxpayer almost £10bn to keep the railways running this year, Department for Transport (DfT) officials revealed today. Speaking to the Public Accounts Committee this morning, permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly said that thus far, the government had spent £4.3bn. For the rest of the financial year, she forecast that an additional £3bn [...]
