Panic over: Brits made 117m fewer trips to the supermarket this March March 30, 2021 Brits made 117m fewer trips to supermarkets this month than in March 2020, which was a month that saw supermarket shelves stripped bare as consumers started panic buying ahead of the UK’s first national lockdown. Grocery sales fell three per cent in the four weeks to 21 March 2021, while during the same period last [...]
FTSE 100 and Wall Street rise on recovery optimism March 26, 2021 FTSE 100 climbed further this afternoon as Wall Street opened higher on renewed economic recovery optimism. London’s blue-chip index is trading 0.9 per cent higher this afternoon as higher retail sales triggered a new wave of confidence in the economic recovery. Mining stocks including Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP pushed higher after a slow [...]
BoE urges banks to keep lending as government schemes come to an end March 26, 2021 The Bank of England has urged banks to continue lending through the recovery as the government starts to wind down its coronavirus loan schemes. While the vaccine rollout has boosted confidence the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which looks at the risks facing the system, has warned SMEs will need to finance cash-flow deficits this year [...]
Asda loses first stage of landmark equal pay case at Supreme Court March 26, 2021 Asda has lost the first stage of its appeal in a landmark equal pay case that could cost the supermarket giant millions of pounds. The Supreme Court this morning upheld the findings of a 2016 employment tribunal and a Court of Appeal case in 2019, which ruled that roles of Asda store workers can be [...]
Asda faces ‘multimillion pound’ hit if supermarket loses equal pay claim March 25, 2021 Asda could be forced to make a “multimillion pound” payout if it loses an appeal on equal pay at the UK’s top court tomorrow. The supermarket is waiting for the Supreme Court’s judgement after it appealed against a ruling that workers in Asda stores – who are mainly female – could compare their pay with [...]
Global online tax on tech giants ‘in our grasp’, says Rishi Sunak March 23, 2021 Rishi Sunak has today said a global online tax on internet giants like Amazon and Facebook is “in our grasp”. Sunak said he was “very keen to see a resolution” on the issue, with the chancellor making it one of his top three priorities in G7 meetings this year that are hosted by the UK. [...]
Asda chief exec to step down following grocer’s £6.8bn sale to Issa Brothers March 18, 2021 Roger Burnley, the chief executive and president of Asda, will step down next year after the supermarket has transitioned to its new ownership, following its £6.8bn sale to the Issa Brothers and TDR Capital. A process to replace Burnley, who has held the top job at the supermarket for just over three years, is set [...]
Boris Johnson signals willingness for new UK online tax on internet giants March 10, 2021 Boris Johnson has today signalled he could be open to a new online tax on tech giants like Amazon, while highlighting the taxation “discrepancy” between digital and bricks and mortar businesses. Johnson said during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today that chancellor Rishi Sunak has “tried to address” the discrepancy “in an equitable way”. Sunak has [...]
Co-op Group under pressure to repay £80m of government funding March 4, 2021 The Co-op board will reportedly meet next week to discuss handing back millions in government cash it was handed during the pandemic. The move would follow in the footsteps of leading supermarkets who returned business rates relief at the end of last year and have pledged to forgo the break announced in the Budget. The [...]
Budget 2021: Which expected policies were not announced? March 3, 2021 Rishi Sunak’s Budget was a tale of two halves, with the chancellor spending big over the next two years before implementing a series of tax rises in the years after. Many of the policies announced were already leaked days or weeks in advance, with the corporation tax rise to 25 per cent for the UK’s [...]