Budget 2021: Hospitality and retail firms to get £5bn of ‘restart’ grants March 3, 2021 The chancellor has announced a new ‘restart’ grant to help retail, hospitality and personal care businesses reopen from April. Retailers, which are due to reopen from April, will be eligible for grants of up to £6,000 per premises. Meanwhile pubs, restaurants and salons, which will be closed until June, will be able to claim grants [...]
New northern Treasury campus to be in Darlington March 3, 2021 Rishi Sunak is expected to announce today that the Treasury’s northern campus will be located in the County Durham town of Darlington. The move will see the Treasury base 750 members of staff in Darlington, after the town beat out competition from Leeds and Newcastle. The Financial Times also reports that the Treasury has decided [...]
Budget 2021: Four key issues for Rishi Sunak today March 3, 2021 Just a few months ago, Chancellor Rishi Sunak had hoped that his spring budget would be an opportunity to move the economic agenda away from Covid-19, and back towards the government’s ‘levelling up’ commitment. But as he prepares to announce his latest set of measures on later today, the reality looks very different. Despite the good [...]
Budget: The UK’s contactless payment limit lifted to £100 March 3, 2021 Rishi Sunak will today lift the limit on contactless payments to £100 in a bid to boost the UK’s ailing retail sector. The previous limit on contactless payments was £45, however the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) conducted recommended lifting the cap after a public consultation. “As we begin to open the UK economy and people [...]
Budget 2021: Furlough extension a life-saver but not enough, analysts say March 3, 2021 The extension of the furlough scheme will swoop in to save sectors and jobs across the UK, but analysts have urged the government to go further. Rishi Sunak will announce the move in today’s Budget, meaning the government will pay millions of people’s wages beyond the end of Covid restrictions. The chancellor said last night [...]
Budget: UK on track for upside scenario with net debt falling, says J.P. Morgan AM chief strategist March 3, 2021 As Rishi Sunak is getting ready to present this year’s Budget, there are two central questions the Chancellor will likely have been asking himself in the run up to today, according to Karen Ward, chief market strategist EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “How much further support will the economy need prior to restrictions being [...]
Rishi Sunak must take his time balancing the books or risk punishing those hardest hit by Covid March 3, 2021 Timing is everything. The Chancellor, as he weighs up his options to make some initial headway in his avowed “sacred duty” to balance the books, knows this only too well. His income support schemes are being closely managed to match the extension and easing of pandemic restrictions on the economy. While this is significant, so [...]
Charm offensive: Hiscox prepares to woo customers following pandemic ‘brand damage’ March 3, 2021 Insurance giant intends to build back its reputation “one policy at a time”, after the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent court case left the business facing “brand damage”. Earlier this year Hiscox came under fire after customers complained they were not being granted payouts on claims made on their business interruption insurance. In a landmark case [...]
Daily Mail owner acquires New Scientist magazine for £70m March 3, 2021 The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has announced that its consumer media business has acquired New Scientist for £70m. A consortium of individual investors led by Sir Bernard Gray are set to sell the world’s leading science magazine. Lord Rothermere, charmain of DMGT, said: “New Scientist is a world-renowned publication loved by its readers, [...]
US ‘on track’ to vaccinate every adult by May, says Biden March 3, 2021 US President Joe Biden has said the US will have enough Covid vaccines for all adults by the end of May, but admitted the country is unlikely to get back to normal until next year. “We’re now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May,” Biden [...]