Rishi Sunak confirms end of England Covid lockdown on 2 December November 22, 2020 Rishi Sunak has confirmed England’s national Covid lockdown will end on 2 December and that the country will instead move into regionalised restrictions. The chancellor said this morning that Boris Johnson will make an announcement tomorrow setting out the details of the post-lockdown Covid plan. A statement from Downing Street this morning said that the [...]
Rishi Sunak to unveil multi-billion pound spending boost in bid to woo regions November 21, 2020 Rishi Sunak is set to unveil plans to pour billions of pounds into infrastructure projects in a bid to woo regions and narrow the UK’s north-south divide. The chancellor will next week announce the launch of a new UK infrastructure bank, based in northern England, which will play a crucial role in fuelling the country’s [...]
Treasury rebuffs calls from City banks for help chasing bad debts from Covid loans November 20, 2020 Treasury rebuffs calls from City banks for help chasing bad debts from Covid loans
Starling becomes first challenger to make a profit November 20, 2020 Starling has become the first of the challenger banks to break even as its rivals record mounting losses, with plans to expand across Europe. Positioned as challengers, digital banks Monzo, Starling and Revolut have faced criticism from investors and the Bank of England for failing to deliver profit. But in a trading update today, Starling [...]
MPs launch inquiry with eye to bolstering City after Brexit November 20, 2020 MPs have launched a major new inquiry aimed at strengthening the role of the City of London as a global financial hub after Britain leaves the EU’s trading arrangements in January. The Treasury Committee of MPs said it will dig into how financial services regulations should be set and scrutinised by lawmakers, and how regulators [...]
Little ‘Christmas cheer’ as UK consumer confidence falls November 20, 2020 New coronavirus restrictions and rising cases knocked UK consumer confidence in November, a survey has shown, as people became more gloomy about their future economic health. The closely watched consumer confidence index from researcher GfK fell two points to minus 33 in November, its lowest reading since June. Britain’s economy has been hit particularly hard [...]
Government-backed Covid loans swell to £65.5bn November 19, 2020 The government has given banks guarantees on £65.48bn of lending to businesses hit by the coronavirus via the Bounce Back Loan scheme. According to the latest finance ministry data, the biggest part of the lending was to small businesses, for which banks received a 100% state guarantee on £42.18bn of loans that have been made. [...]
One in seven UK companies at risk of collapse as recovery slows November 19, 2020 Around one in seven UK companies said they were at risk of collapse as the economy faces a tough winter with coronavirus cases still surging and an England-wide lockdown in place. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 14 per cent of UK companies reported having “low or no confidence” that they would survive the [...]
Standing up for the recovery: an interview with Lloyds Banking Group’s London ambassador November 18, 2020 Ed Thurman has a different perspective – literally – from most people on banking and how the country can recover from the pandemic. Firstly, he holds two very different senior positions at Lloyds Banking Group: managing director for global transaction banking and ‘ambassador for London’. Secondly, he is 6ft7in tall and has spent most of [...]
BoE’s Andy Haldane: Digital currencies could cut risk and boost lending November 18, 2020 Digital currencies could reduce risk in the financial system and aid monetary policy with interest rates close to rock bottom, Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane has said. Haldane also told The City UK’s annual conference that new technological infrastructure should be considered to help small and medium-sized businesses better access finance after years [...]