Economists raise fears over Rishi Sunak’s new job support plan September 24, 2020 Economists this afternoon raised concerns that Rishi Sunak’s new support measures could lead to many workers losing their jobs as they do not encourage firms to keep employees on. The centrepiece of the chancellor’s scheme is a new “Job Support Scheme”, which will replace the existing furlough initiative. Under the plan, the government will support [...]
FTSE 100 and Wall Street drop as coronavirus fears return September 24, 2020 The FTSE 100 fell today after two consecutive days of climbs as investors’ nerves over the impact of coronavirus on the economy returned. London’s blue-chip stock index fell 1.1 per cent to 5,835 points by the mid-afternoon, while the mid cap FTSE 250 index fell by the same margin. Meanwhile, after a sharp sell-off on [...]
US jobless claims rise as economic recovery stalls September 24, 2020 The number of Americans making new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week amid worrying signs that the economic recovery was stalling. There were 870,000 jobless claims last week, up from 866,000 for the week ending 12 September, according to figures from the US Labor Department. The rise came as a shock to economists, [...]
Go-Ahead Group swerves to a loss as Covid derails operations September 24, 2020 Transport group Go-Ahead fell to a loss in the year ending 27 June as its regional bus services were hit hard by coronavirus and it suffered steep exceptional costs in Germany. Go-Ahead’s shares rose 1.2 per cent, as it said that regional services were back to 50 to 60 per cent capacity and investors gambled [...]
Act now to prevent culture sector collapse, say MPs September 24, 2020 The government should take immediate action to protect the UK’s cultural and sporting sectors, the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee warned today. In a letter to culture secretary Oliver Dowden, lawmakers urged officials to use the pause created by the latest Covid-19 restrictions to implement a number of recommendations that would enable [...]
A quarter of hospitality firms could go bust by the end of the year without more government support September 23, 2020 New data from the pub industry released today showed that almost a quarter of hospitality businesses think they will go bust by the end of the year without new government support. Yesterday Boris Johnson unveiled sweeping new measures to curb a rise in coronavirus cases, including a 10pm curfew on all hospitality firms. The move, [...]
Fast food bosses urge Rishi Sunak to put in place new support schemes September 23, 2020 The bosses of some of the UK’s largest restaurants have tonight written to chancellor Rishi Sunak urging him to provide more support for the sector after new coronavirus measures were put in place yesterday. In the letter, the chief executives of fast food giants such as Itsu, KFC and Pizza Hut, along with takeaway service [...]
Daily coronavirus cases hit highest level since 1 May September 23, 2020 There were 6,178 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK today, the highest figure since 1 May, government data showed. The new figure is roughly a quarter higher than yesterday, when there were 4,926 cases, the Department of Health and Social Care said. There were also 37 new deaths from the disease, which is [...]
Premier Oil seeks to lower price of BP purchases for a second time September 23, 2020 Premier Oil has begun talks with BP over lowering the price of a $210m deal to buy its stakes in two North Sea oilfields for a second time, it was reported today. Back in June, the struggling oil explorer managed to renegotiate the price down from an initial sum of $625m as it was hit [...]
Incoming Amigo boss quits before starting after board dispute September 23, 2020 The incoming chief executive of troubled subprime lender Amigo Loans today quit the company before he had even taken up the position. Glen Crawford, a director and chief executive designate today left the business after a “divergence of views with the majority of the board”. Crawford was chief executive of the business from 2016 until [...]
