Moneysupermarket profit drops as demand for travel insurance and credit products falls February 18, 2021 Moneysupermarket, the financial services price-comparison platform, suffered a fall in profit and revenue last year as lockdown restrictions caused a drop in demand for insurance and credit products. Moneysupermarket, which also owns the advice website Moneysavingexpert, said profit after tax fell 27 per cent from £94.9m in 2019 to £69.3m last year. Group revenue was [...]
Coronavirus cases fall across England ahead of lockdown easing announcement February 18, 2021 Coronavirus cases have declined strongly across England since January, according to the latest study, suggesting that the current lockdown measures have worked to drive infection rates down. The study, known as REACT-1 and led by researchers at Imperial College London, found that national prevalence was two thirds lower between 4 and 13 February than it [...]
The biotech bosses welcoming Neil Woodford back, even if FCA and savers stay wary February 18, 2021 Neil Woodford is far from universally popular, and those fans he has are for the minute rare to put their head above the parapet. But Angharad Carrick found some, leading a number of Britain’s fastest-growing biotech firms. The return of Neil Woodford has, understandably, annoyed plenty. Chief amongst them are the savers he left out [...]
Tracking the pandemic’s impacts on small business February 18, 2021 Next week the Government will provide an update on the lockdown exit plan with a much-speculated upon roadmap to recovery out of the pandemic. This roadmap needs clear signposts and barrier-free routes to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) recover. It has been a turbulent year for them, evidenced in results from the ACCA UK [...]
Remote working will come at a cost, FTSE and S&P 500 hiring execs warn February 18, 2021 Remote working will come at a cost, FTSE and S&P 500 hiring execs warn
The future of cities: The age of urban miracles is not over February 18, 2021 Will the Covid-19 pandemic permanently derail our urban world and end the eminence of the greatest global cities, like London? The answer depends on whether the switch to working from home is permanent. Our city centres are ghostly quiet because so many of us have stopped commuting and are dialling into our jobs. But not [...]
Could the ‘circular economy’ be the answer to post-Covid growth? February 18, 2021 January’s third lockdown and fallout from Brexit have added insult to the injuries inflicted in 2020, and Britain’s economic outlook hasn’t been looking very bright in recent weeks. With the Chancellor continuing to pump money into relief schemes, with more desperately needed cash set to be announced in the March budget, those early pandemic conversations [...]
A VAT break on booze would allow entrepreneurs to rebuild British high streets February 18, 2021 Hospitality employs 9 per cent of the UK’s workforce. Or perhaps ‘did employ’ is a more accurate phrase. Undoubtedly, there will be more redundancies within this sector – at a phenomenal cost, ultimately, to the taxpayer. We all know that hospitality has been one of the worst hit sectors in the economy as a result [...]
Sadiq Khan’s Covid business group calls for London-specific support February 18, 2021 The government should already be drawing up a campaign to reassure people it will be safe to get back on London’s High Streets post-Covid and appoint a minister for “reopening the economy”, according to Sadiq Khan and a group of London business leaders. Khan’s London Covid Business Forum – which includes heads of lobby groups [...]
Covid: Half a million self employed still excluded from government’s SEISS scheme February 17, 2021 Half a million self-employed still excluded from government help despite having no work
