Etihad Airways will only fly with fully vaccinated crew February 10, 2021 Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways will only operate flights with vaccinated pilots and cabin crew, the company said on Wednesday. The airline has made a coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical group Sinopharm available to all employees, as well as the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. It is not yet clear how many cabin crew and pilots have [...]
Exclusive: ‘Normal’ bank lending to SMEs down 10 per cent in 2020 as emergency loan use explodes February 10, 2021 Non-emergency lending by banks to SMEs dropped 10 per cent in 2020, while emergency coronavirus funding ballooned. ‘Normal’ lending to SMEs fell from £168bn in December 2019 to £152bn a year later, research by debt specialist ACP Altenburg Advisory found. At the same time, emergency coronavirus funding via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBLIS) [...]
Google to pay UK publishers for news as global pressure mounts February 10, 2021 Google has inked a licensing deal with more than 120 UK publications as pressure mounts on tech giants to pay publishers for news. The launch of Google News Showcase, part of the company’s pledge to invest $1bn (£750m) in news worldwide, means publishers will be paid for excerpts that appear in its search results. The [...]
Where to find shelter from rising inflation February 10, 2021 In the wake of Covid-19, investors have started debating whether long-dormant inflation risks will soon resurface. Stay-at-home orders and government spending have left consumers with extra savings and pent-up demand that could eventually drive a spending splurge. At the same time, lockdowns have kept many businesses shut, destroying capacity in some sectors of the economy [...]
Listers 450hp Toyota Supra is a cut-price supercar February 10, 2021 We drive a tuned 450hp Toyota Supra, available as a dealer-fit conversion from Listers. As Tim Pitt discovers, it’s almost supercar-quick.
Huawei launches legal challenge against US national security threat label February 10, 2021 Huawei has mounted a legal challenge against the decision to designate the telecoms giant a threat to US national security due to its alleged ties to Beijing. In June the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally labelled Huawei and ZTE as security threats, blocking US firms from purchasing equipment from the companies. In December it blocked [...]
Persimmon takes £75m hit on dangerous cladding costs February 10, 2021 Persimmon will take a multimillion pound hit on costs associated with cladding safety issues that have been discovered since the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The housebuilder said it has made a £75m provision in its 2020 results to pay for dangerous cladding to be removed or investigated at 26 high-rise buildings in its legacy development portfolio. [...]
Von der Leyen: ‘Mistakes were made’ ahead of EU/UK vaccine debacle February 10, 2021 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has admitted “mistakes were made” ahead of the EU’s brief and disastrous decision to block vaccines travelling to the UK. Speaking this morning, Von der Leyen said the EU Commission would do its “utmost to protect the peace in Northern Ireland.” The EU Commission president admitted the bloc [...]
Ex-Labour MP Chuka Umunna hired by JPMorgan in new ESG role February 10, 2021 Chuka Umunna has been hired by JPMorgan to head up its environmental, social and governance (ESG) work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The newly created role will pull together all the existing client-facing ESG efforts across the banking business in the region. The appointment was announced within the bank in a memo seen by [...]
Amundi CEO steps down on a high as fund manager reports record profit February 10, 2021 Yves Perrier is stepping down after more than a decade running Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager. He will be succeeded by his deputy Valérie Baudson, the group said on Friday. Perrier, who has led the French firm since its creation in 2010, announced his departure as the group reported a record fourth-quarter profit. He will [...]