French economy set for two-year recovery June 9, 2020 France’s economy will not rebound to pre-coronavirus levels until 2022 as it continues to suffer its worst post-war recession, the central bank said this morning. The Eurozone’s second largest economy is set to contract 10.3 per cent this year, the Bank of France said. However, it will begin to return to health next year, with [...]
Coronavirus: New fund launched to create apprenticeships in London June 9, 2020 A new fund has been launched by City Hall and a leading London think tank to provide retraining opportunities to London businesses affected by coronavirus. The London Progression Collaboration – run by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Greater London Authority – launched the fund today, with £500,000 already pledged by companies [...]
BoE: Furlough means UK faces record labour market inactivity June 8, 2020 The UK is facing what appears to be a record level of inactivity in its labour market as huge numbers of people are on furlough or facing unemployment due to Covid-19, the Bank of England’s chief economist has warned. “We’ve seen activity across the economy collapse, and we’ve seen a rapid rise in inactivity among [...]
Ocean Outdoor revenue drops as coronavirus hits advertising industry June 8, 2020 Digital advertising group Ocean Outdoor today reported a dip in revenue for the first quarter of 2020 as demand for advertising continues to nosedive amid the coronavirus crisis. The figures The billboard giant announced that group revenue sank four per cent to £27.4m in the first quarter of 2020 on a pro-forma basis, down from [...]
Can the Boris government really avoid Austerity the sequel? June 8, 2020 There is still a widespread view that austerity at the start of the last decade was somehow a political choice — that David Cameron and George Osborne (remember them) thrust the term into the political discourse simply as an ideological excuse to shrink the size of the state. But far from being a political smokescreen, [...]
Labour not supportive of changing Sunday trading laws June 7, 2020 Labour has said it does not support the government’s move to scrap trading laws in England, which will allow super markets to open for more than six hours on Sundays. Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said she wasn’t convinced the changes would help stimulate the economy and that they would also deprive workers of seeing [...]
Boris Johnson moves to ease lockdown faster in face of mass job losses June 7, 2020 Boris Johnson is set to accelerate the speed of easing the coronavirus lockdown, after warnings of impending mass unemployment. Ministers have drawn up plans to bring Britain back to something resembling normal life by July, in order to ensure industries benefit from summer trading. The new plans will see the government allow planning restrictions to [...]
Chancellor picks Richard Hughes as next head of budget watchdog OBR June 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has nominated an International Monetary Fund (IMF) adviser and former government as the next head of the UK’s budget watchdog. Richard Hughes, who currently also works as a research associate at the Resolution Foundation think tank, said he was “honoured” to be picked as the next chair of the Office for Budget [...]
Alok Sharma tests negative for coronavirus June 4, 2020 Business secretary Alok Sharma has tested negative for coronavirus, after he was seen visibly unwell in the House of Commons yesterday. Sharma took to Twitter to announce he was Covid-free this evening, after a day of speculation that other cabinet members would have to self-isolate if the business secretary tested positive. “Huge thanks to everyone [...]
A menu of options to keep our restaurants alive June 4, 2020 You all know the image: a politician enjoying a pint or a meal at their local restaurant. There are handshakes all round and a picture is posted on Twitter. It is — rightly — a scene that shows MPs or councillors backing businesses, particularly the small and medium sized enterprises which make up the lifeblood [...]