Virgin Atlantic launches desperate plea for government support as buyout firms circle May 10, 2020 The chief executive of Virgin Atlantic has issued a last-ditch plea for a government bailout as a string of buyout firms circle the troubled carrier. Sir Richard Branson’s airline has failed to impress the Treasury with its request for a £500m taxpayer-funded rescue package, with chancellor Rishi Sunak stating support would be given only as [...]
Minister: Government wants to ‘encourage people to go back to work’ May 10, 2020 The government wants to encourage people to go back to work as it unveils its new coronavirus slogan, according to housing secretary Robert Jenrick. Boris Johnson will unveil a new slogan to replace the government’s “stay home, protect the NHS, save lives” mantra it has repeated throughout the Covid-19 lockdown. The Sunday Telegraph reported it [...]
Retailers call for shop reopenings based on safety standards May 10, 2020 The reopening of shops after the coronavirus lockdown should be based on safety standards rather than size or business type, a top retail chief has said. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said she expected a “gradual lifting” of the restrictions, with schools and transport the first to reopen. But she [...]
Boris Johnson set to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions tonight May 10, 2020 Boris Johnson is expected to announce an easing of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown tonight as the government implements a new five-tier warning rating. It is expected that the Prime Minister will announce that, from next week, people will be allowed to exercise more than once a day and sunbathe as long as two metres distance [...]
Coronavirus: Britain’s pandemic response has nothing to do with funding May 10, 2020 There have been no good weeks for Britain since the lockdown began, but last week has surely been among the worst. On Monday, the news that half of all adults are now being paid for by the state and consternation over how the Chancellor will ever roll back the furlough scheme. On Wednesday, national humiliation [...]
Coronavirus: Digital is at the heart of SME recovery May 9, 2020 Gary Turner is co-founder of Xero Behind the sobering statistics around businesses in financial distress, thousands of SMEs are making radical changes to their working models through digitisation. Businesses that have been traditional at the core are now discovering that digital processes offer far greater scalability and resilience, and as a result of Covid-19 I [...]
Extend job retention scheme to stop unemployment spike, says think tank May 9, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus job retention scheme must be extended for three months in order to prevent joblessness from spiking, an employment think tank has said. Under the job retention scheme (JRS) the government pays 80 per cent of “furloughed” workers’ wages, up to a limit of £2,500 a month. In a report out today, UK [...]
UK coronavirus death toll rises by 626 to 31,241 ahead of lockdown easing May 8, 2020 The UK government has announced that 626 more people have died from coronavirus since yesterday, taking the total death toll to 31,241. Environment secretary George Eustice said that 4,649 more people had tested positive for Covid-19 since yesterday. That took the total to 211,364. Eustice said that 97,000 people were tested yesterday. That is short [...]
US stocks rise on China trade hopes despite dire jobs report May 8, 2020 US stocks have risen in early trading despite the worst unemployment report in modern history, as investors take cheer in the US and China’s agreement to work together on the smooth implementation of their trade deal. The Dow Jones index was 1.5 per cent higher. The S&P 500 rose 1.3 per cent while the Nasdaq [...]
Nonfarm payrolls: US unemployment soars as 21m Americans lose jobs May 8, 2020 More than 20m Americans lost their jobs in April, official “nonfarm payrolls” data has shown, as the world’s largest economy was battered by coronavirus and the lockdowns put in place to stop it spreading. The 20.5m job losses sent the unemployment rate soaring to 14.7 per cent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said, [...]
