Rishi Sunak faces pressure to extend furlough scheme August 7, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing mounting pressure to extend the furlough scheme in some form, amid fears of a wave of unemployment later in the year. Opposition political parties and business groups are increasingly worried that plans to wind down the furlough scheme in October are premature. The Bank of England yesterday said 2.5m people [...]
Rightmove: Demand surges 50 per cent after housing market reopens August 7, 2020 Property platform Rightmove said demand was up 50 per cent in June and July as potential buyers sought new homes after months spent in lockdown. Rightmove’s share price jumped 8.93 per cent to 629.4p this morning after the company reported a bounce in activity after the housing market reopened. The figures In the six months [...]
Ofgem to slash energy price cap by £84 for 15m households in October August 7, 2020 The energy price cap is set to fall to its lowest level so far due to coronavirus, saving around 15m customers £84 on their bills. Energy regulator Ofgem will lower the price cap between October and March from £1,126 to £1,042. The price cap determines the highest companies can charge for the gas and electricity [...]
British Airways reaches halfway point in 12,000 job cuts August 7, 2020 More than 6,000 British Airways staff have opted to take voluntary redundancy, as the airline makes progress on its mission to cut 12,000 jobs. The airline will send out letters to its remaining staff today to tell them whether they still have a job or not, and if they do, whether they will be required [...]
TP ICAP sees slow start to second half but retains guidance August 7, 2020 TP ICAP reported a slow start to the second half as the high level of trading activity during lockdown started to fade. Despite a slowdown in activity the inter-dealer broker maintained its guidance of low single-digit revenue growth for the year. The figures TP ICAP increased underlying profits in the period to £136m, up from [...]
France could be next to join UK quarantine list as Sunak warns of travel ‘disruption’ August 7, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned there is “always a risk of disruption to travel plans” as speculation that France could be added to the quarantine list grows. The number of Covid-19 infections in France has increased by more than 1,600 for a second consecutive day, returning to levels not seen since May. It comes just [...]
Rishi Sunak: ‘Hardship lies ahead’ for the UK economy August 7, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said that “hardship lies ahead” for the UK economy despite the Bank of England improving its forecast for this year. Yesterday the Bank upgraded its projection for the path of GDP in 2020, saying it would now contract 9.5 per cent rather than the 14 per cent it had previously pencilled [...]
UK house prices jump in July in post-lockdown ‘mini-boom’ August 7, 2020 UK house prices jumped in July after coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased and the government announced a stamp duty holiday, sparking a “mini-boom” in the property market. UK house prices in July were 1.6 per cent higher than the previous month. House prices last month were also 3.8 per cent up compared to July 2019, according [...]
Facebook staff to work from home until July 2021 August 7, 2020 Facebook has said its employees will be allowed to work from home until July 2021, and will be given $1,000 towards the cost of building a home office. It follows in the footsteps of other big technology firms, after Google said last month it would permit those who do not need to be in the [...]
