Government will extend furlough beyond June if needed, says minister May 7, 2020 The government is committed to extending the job retention scheme beyond the end of June if required to support workers currently on furlough, a minister said today. Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said the government would not end furlough abruptly at the end of June if it is clear employees will continue to need support. [...]
O2 and Virgin Media confirm merger to create £31bn telecoms player May 7, 2020 O2 and Virgin Media have confirmed a merger to form a multi-play broadband giant that would be valued at a combined total of £31.4bn. The pair pledged to invest £10bn into the UK over the next five years while saving £6.2bn through combined synergies, or £540m a year five years after the merger completes. But [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Andy Clarke, former CEO of Asda May 7, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by Asda’s former CEO, Andy Clarke, now chairman of AI-powered retail system Spoon Guru. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Andy reflects on the way in which the supermarket and grocery sector responded in the early stages of the pandemic, with panic [...]
US private sector sees jobless claims spiral over 20m May 6, 2020 More than 20m US citizens were made redundant last month, a shocking jobless statistic showed today to underline the severe economic impact of coronavirus. Payroll processing body ADP today reported private sector employment plunged by 20,236,000 jobs between March and April. The jobless figures mean around 13 per cent of the 162m Americans employed in [...]
£2bn of ‘bounce back’ loans for SMEs approved in first 24 hours May 6, 2020 More than 69,000 so-called coronavirus bounce back loans were approved on the first day of them being made available via banks. The approvals equate to over £2bn in loans during the first 24 hours of the bounce back scheme’s launch on Monday, chancellor Rishi Sunak said today. The seven largest UK banks including HSBC, Barclays, [...]
Ocado retail sales surge 40 per cent in second quarter on stockpiling May 6, 2020 Ocado retail sales have jumped 40 per cent year on year after ramping up capacity to meet delivery demand amid shopper stockpiling during the coronavirus crisis. The online supermarket, which stopped accepting new customers for its delivery service amid the stockpiling craze at the start of the UK lockdown, today said that trend has now [...]
Metro Bank shares fall despite rise in customer deposits May 6, 2020 Metro Bank experienced a lull in lending over its first quarter but customer deposits jumped by £77m since the end of December, it told investors today. Customers ignored lower interest rates on deposits to store more money with Metro Bank to bring deposits to £14.55bn over the first three months of 2020. Meanwhile, net lending [...]
Virgin Money’s first half profit plunges 60 per cent on coronavirus loan losses May 6, 2020 Virgin Money, formerly CYBG bank, has taken a £164m impairment charge on coronavirus for the first half of 2020 that has sent underlying profit plunging almost 60 per cent. The figures Profit before tax slumped 40.5 per cent from £37m in the six months to March 2019 to just £22m in the six months to [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Adam Smith Institute director Eamonn Butler May 6, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by economist Eamonn Butler, co-founder and director of the Adam Smith Institute. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Butler is an advocate of easing the lockdown and warns that the economic impact of the current restrictions will get worse (and harder to [...]
Coronavirus: England and Wales death toll falls for first time since lockdown began May 5, 2020 The number of deaths in England and Wales fell for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began, according to data released today for the week to 24 April. England and Wales recorded 21,997 total deaths for the week to 24 April, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed. That is a decline of 354 [...]
