Southend Hospital will ‘restrict services’ without more protective equipment April 1, 2020 Staff at Essex’s Southend Hospital have warned they may have to limit services if they do not receive more protective equipment to treat coronavirus patients. Frontline staff at the hospital wrote to management to say that if they did not get an increase in personal protective equipment (PPE) by the end of the day they [...]
Coronavirus: M&S gives staff 15 per cent bonus April 1, 2020 Marks and Spencer will give frontline staff across its stores and supply chain a 15 per cent bonus for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. The company also said employees that “have caring commitments or who are feeling more vulnerable” are able to be furloughed voluntarily on full pay. The retailer announced this morning that [...]
FTSE 100 tumbles after coronavirus forces banks to cut dividends April 1, 2020 The FTSE 100 closed down 3.4 per cent at 5,478 points today after the UK’s major banks were punished by investors after scrapping dividends last night. The fall came after the index finished its worst quarter since 1987 yesterday. Shedding more than 24 per cent of its value, the FTSE 100 was pummelled over fears [...]
Warner Media names Hulu co-founder Jason Kilar as new chief executive April 1, 2020 Warner Media today said it has appointed veteran media boss Jason Kilar as its new chief executive. Kilar, a former Amazon executive and founding chief executive of streaming service Hulu, will take over the top role from 1 May. He replaces John Stankey, who in September was promoted to chief operating officer of parent company [...]
Coronavirus: Banks must ‘repay the favour’ to taxpayer after 2008 crash April 1, 2020 Business secretary Alok Sharma has made a plea for banks to make more loans available for businesses during the coronavirus crisis. Speaking at today’s daily press briefing, Sharma said banks were bailed out by the taxpayers in 2008 and that they must “repay the favour”. Small and medium businesses (SMEs) struggling with the fallout from [...]
Coronavirus: Businesses call on banks to do more as small firms face closure April 1, 2020 The business community has called for the UK’s banks to do more to support struggling smaller companies after it emerged that 20 per cent of all UK SMEs could shut within the month due to the coronavirus lockdown. Any UK small business with a turnover of up to £45m a year can, under new Treasury [...]
Zoom bug allows hackers to take over webcam and microphone April 1, 2020 Zoom users could have their webcam and microphone taken over by hackers due to security flaws in the popular video conferencing app. A former NSA hacker today revealed two previously undisclosed bugs in Zoom’s software that could allow criminals to hijack a user’s Mac. One bug allows an attacker to inject malicious code into the [...]
Unilever acquires Horlicks brand in India in £397m deal April 1, 2020 Consumer goods giant Unilever has today completed the acquisition of Horlicks and other Glaxosmithkline brands in a £397m deal. The deal will allow Unilever to use the Horlicks brand rights and other GSK Consumer Healthcare nutrition brands in predominantly Asian markets. The company’s listed subsidiary in India, Hindustan Unilever Limited (Hul) also announced today that [...]
Ex-chancellor Alistair Darling calls for coronavirus VAT cut April 1, 2020 Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling has called for the government to temporarily cut VAT to help people deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Darling, who was chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis, told a virtual Policy Exchange event today that the Treasury had to start doing “things that can be done fairly [...]
Government set to launch coronavirus ‘contact tracking’ app April 1, 2020 The government is gearing up to launch a new app that will alert users if they have come too close to someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. The contact tracking app, which Brits can download on a voluntary basis, will be rolled out either just before or just after the lockdown is lifted, Sky [...]
