BoE puts negative interest rates in its ‘toolbox’ for the first time August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has put negative interest rates in its “toolbox” of possible monetary policy measures for the first time, governor Andrew Bailey said today. However, Bailey cautioned that the Bank does not currently “have a plan to use them”. Read more: Bank of England says UK economy’s recovery will take longer than expected [...]
Tiktok to build $500m European data centre in Ireland August 6, 2020 Tiktok has plans to spend $500m (£375m) on building a data centre in Ireland, it said today, which will look after the short-form video app’s European user data. The stored data will include personal information such as phone numbers and location data, messages and videos. Such information is currently stored in the US, but Tiktok [...]
Lufthansa posts worst loss in history amid warnings of prolonged air travel slump August 6, 2020 Lufthansa has posted the worst loss in its history in the second quarter as the German airline warned that it did not expect air travel to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024. As a result of coronavirus, the state-backed airline flew 96 per cent fewer passengers between April and June, leading revenue for the period [...]
‘Edtech’ surges to the top of the class August 6, 2020 From near-ubiquitous interactive whiteboards to cloud platforms, coding and coaching via video-call, education technology has travelled a long way since schools introduced basic computing laboratories in the 1980s. These advancements have been given a further powerful push by the digital acceleration triggered by coronavirus: most visibly in the need for teaching professionals to deliver classes [...]
UK construction sector slashes more jobs despite post-lockdown boom August 6, 2020 The rate of UK construction job cuts increased sharply in July despite the industry’s fastest rise in output since 2015, a closely followed survey showed today. Around one-third of employers in the UK construction sector reported a decline in employment for July, IHS Markit’s UK Construction Purchasing’ Managers’ Index (PMI) report found. That came despite [...]
Aviva vows to reduce focus on Asia and Europe as profit slumps August 6, 2020 Aviva today vowed to reduce its focus on Asia and Europe, after profit in the first six months of 2020 fell 30 per cent. The figures Profit before tax dropped 30 per cent year on year to £1.08bn in the six months to 30 June down from £1.52bn in the same period last year. Basic [...]
Glencore shares fall as miner cuts dividend amid growing debt August 6, 2020 Shares in miner Glencore fell 3.8 per cent this morning after the commodities giant said that it would scrap its $2.6bn dividend to concentrate on reducing debt. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has lowered prices for the company’s minerals due to a slump in demand, Glencore said it had booked a total [...]
Pub chain JD Wetherspoon to cut up to 130 head office jobs August 6, 2020 Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will cut up to 130 head office jobs due to a downturn in the pub and restaurant industry during the coronavirus pandemic. The company announced this morning that 110 to 130 head office positions are at risk of redundancy. Wetherspoon blamed the cuts on a downturn in trading, a slowdown in [...]
Savills reports sharp drop in profit due to coronavirus crisis August 6, 2020 Estate agent Savills reported a sharp drop in profit in the first half of the year due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the UK housing market. The figures In the six months ended 30 June, group revenue fell seven per cent to £791.4m. Underlying group profit before tax plunged 66 per cent [...]
