The City View: Robert Walters on the ‘perfect storm’ hitting the jobs market June 15, 2020 In this episode, Christian talks to Robert Walters, founder and CEO of Robert Walters, the London-listed global recruitment giant, about how the pandemic and lockdown has affected his business and what it means for professional recruitment in the months ahead. Robert is highly critical of the government’s messaging around easing the lockdown measures and offers a [...]
Brexit trade talks: UK ‘U-turns’ on full border checks for EU goods June 12, 2020 The UK government has reportedly U-turned on its plan to implement full border checks with the EU from 1 January 2021 after Brexit. Ministers are under increasing pressure from businesses not to deliver a no-deal Brexit as the UK’s recovery from coronavirus looks likely to be a slow one. So far Boris Johnson’s government has [...]
UK economy shrinks 20 per cent in April lockdown in worst ever month June 12, 2020 The UK economy shrank by a record 20 per cent in the first full month of lockdown as shops sent workers home to close for the duration of April. Activity in the UK economy contracted by 20.4 per cent in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today, marking the single largest monthly drop [...]
US stocks and FTSE 100 plunge after Fed’s long recovery warning June 11, 2020 The FTSE 100 suffered its worst daily drop since late March, with US stocks plunging into the red after the Federal Reserve effectively crushed hopes of a quick recovery. London’s blue-chip index closed down 3.99 per cent after crashing as much as 2.66 per cent this morning. And US stocks also crashed, with the Dow [...]
Coronavirus deaths in UK rise by 151 to 41,279 June 11, 2020 The UK experienced another 151 coronavirus deaths yesterday, official data confirmed today. The Department of Health and Social Care’s official data showed 151 more people died to bring the UK’s total number of official coronavirus deaths to 41,279. That is substantially lower than a Reuters tally placing the overall UK toll closer to 52,000, including [...]
FCA fines Lloyds Banking Group £64m after mistreating mortgage customers in difficulty June 11, 2020 Lloyds Banking Group must pay a £64m fine for failing to treat over a quarter of a million mortgage customers in arrears fairly. Lloyds Bank, the Bank of Scotland and the latter’s subsidiary The Mortgage Business all failed to take struggling customers’ financial circumstances into account when arranging repayments. The banks’ systems and procedures meant [...]
Unilever to end Anglo-Dutch structure to prioritise London base after failed Amsterdam move June 11, 2020 Unilever today announced plans to end its joint Anglo-Dutch structure to unify under its UK listing, after failing to persuade British investors to approve a shift to its Amsterdam HQ in 2018. The consumer goods giant would swap Dutch shares for its London-listed Unilever PLC stock, with Unilever PLC becoming the single parent company it [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 rebound sours as traders await Fed rates decision June 10, 2020 The FTSE 100 faltered as an initial rebound quickly turned sour and the UK index fell back into the red by the afternoon. London’s blue-chip index pushed 0.74 per cent higher as markets opened today, before dipping into the red by mid-morning. The FTSE pared back some of the losses by the afternoon but edged [...]
UK lockdown: Zoos and drive-in cinemas could reopen from 15 June June 10, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is today expected to outline which sectors of the UK economy will reopen after lockdown on 15 June, such as zoos and drive-in cinemas. The UK is slowly reopening its economy after it entered lockdown on 23 March, leading to the widespread closure of restaurants, pubs, gyms, cafes and most shops [...]
Eurozone economy shrank less than expected in coronavirus quarter June 9, 2020 The Eurozone economy shrank less than expected in the coronavirus-struck first quarter of 2020, data released today confirmed. The bloc’s economy shrank by 3.6 per cent since the last quarter of 2019, compared to a preliminary report in May that put the drop at 3.8 per cent. Eurozone GDP was 3.1 per cent lower than [...]
