SMMT: UK coronavirus crisis wipes out April car sales May 5, 2020 New car sales have tanked 97 per cent amid the UK coronavirus crisis, according to new stats from an industry body today. That effectively means new UK car sales ground to a halt in April, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Just 4,321 cars were sold over the month – 70 per cent [...]
Government outlines workplace rules for UK companies to relax lockdown May 4, 2020 Companies must limit hot desking and introduce protective screens once the UK lockdown eases and people return to offices, a government document says. Staff canteens will stay closed while ministers will push employers to encourage home-working and stagger shift times, the draft document reportedly suggests. The business department has drawn up seven such documents that [...]
Coronavirus: UK manufacturing sector books record drops in ‘ruinous’ April May 1, 2020 UK manufacturing sector activity plunged at a record pace in April during lockdown, a closely followed measure of industrial output showed today. Factories saw output slump to 32.6 in April, according to IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data. Anything below 50 represents a contraction. Output, new orders and employment all plummeted at the fastest [...]
UK house prices: Experts predict sharp recovery after coronavirus lockdown May 1, 2020 UK house prices could rebound after the coronavirus lockdown eases, after they grew at the fastest pace since 2017 before the crisis, Nationwide said today. The value of British homes grew at their fastest rate since February 2017 before the coronavirus lockdown brought the market crashing to a halt, Nationwide data released today showed. UK [...]
British Airways to axe a quarter of pilots amid 12,000 job cuts April 30, 2020 British Airways owner IAG expects to make a quarter of its pilots redundant as part of a scheme that could axe 12,000 jobs. The airline said it will reduce its pilot headcount by 955 for what it termed “volume adjustment” and a further 175 it pinned on “efficiency changes”. That would cull 1,130 pilots out [...]
Lloyds first quarter profit crashes 95 per cent on coronavirus April 30, 2020 Lloyds Banking Group posted a huge 95 per cent fall in profit for the first quarter of 2020 today as the coronavirus crisis took hold in the UK. Profit before tax slumped to £74m from £1.6bn the previous year as Lloyds took a massive impairment charge of £1.43bn as it expects bad loans to mount [...]
HSBC CEO: Applications for coronavirus loans ‘now easier’ to process April 28, 2020 HSBC’s CEO today blamed the sheer demand for coronavirus loans for banks’ apparent slowness to lend out cash to struggling small businesses. Noel Quinn said banks have seen a “significant volume” of applications for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) so far. And he rejected the notion that a full government guarantee of such [...]
HSBC first quarter profit halves on coronavirus pandemic April 28, 2020 HSBC saw coronavirus rip its first quarter profit in half today as it counted a huge $2.4bn jump in credit losses as a result of the pandemic. The bank’s share price declined 1.7 per cent to 409.3p in early trading as it revealed profit before tax sank 48 per cent year on year to $3.21bn. [...]
Boris Johnson set to make Downing Street statement shortly April 27, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to make a statement outside Downing Street upon his return to work after a severe case of coronavirus. Johnson has spent three weeks on the sidelines after contracting coronavirus that led to the PM going into intensive care in hospital. He returned to Downing Street last night after two [...]
Italy to ease lockdown measures as coronavirus infections drop April 27, 2020 Italy has signalled an easing of lockdown measures put in place seven weeks ago to battle a sudden lethal spike in coronavirus cases. Italy will begin to relax lockdown measures from 4 May, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. People will be able to visit relatives in small numbers and building sites, factories and parks will [...]
