The EU must dump the idea of EU dumping June 1, 2020 Michel Barnier is refusing to negotiate with the UK on the future trading relationship until the UK agrees to the EU’s idea of a ‘level playing field’. One of the key issues concerning the EU is ‘dumping’. It is worried that the UK will become a super-competitive, de-regulated ‘Singapore-on-Thames’ that undercuts the prices of products [...]
City urges government to hand coronavirus loans to firms hit by EU state aid rules June 1, 2020 UK business groups have urged the government to find a way around EU state aid rules that have stopped British businesses from receiving coronavirus loans. The CBI, British Retail Consortium and UK Hospitality have written to economic secretary John Glen urging him to extend the coronavirus loans scheme to firms that have failed to secure [...]
Primark set to reopen all English stores on 15 June June 1, 2020 High-street stalwart Primark is seeking to reopen all of its 153 stores in England by 15 June, its owner Associated British Foods said today. The announcement came after the UK government reiterated its “roadmap” for reopening the economy. It said non-essential retailers can open from the middle of this month after a lengthy period of [...]
Jim O’Neill: Project Birch must come with conditions attached May 31, 2020 Former Treasury minister and architect of the Northern Powerhouse project Jim O’Neill has said the government’s Project Birch bailout plan must come with conditions attached for the businesses involved. Speaking to the Telegraph, O’Neill also called for “great conditionality” to be attached to the scheme, which is expected to provide support for strategically key firms [...]
London business confidence rises but gloom remains as lockdown eased May 29, 2020 London business confidence picked up slightly in May as the government lifted coronavirus restrictions, but firms grew gloomier across the country as a whole. The business barometer from Lloyds showed that London business confidence rose eight points on its gauge to minus 20. This was nonetheless close to a record low after sentiment plunged in [...]
Dividend bear markets: the grizzly facts May 29, 2020 With companies around the world drastically cutting dividends, we’ve looked at 149 years of data to see what’s happened previously at such times and what investors might expect next. Dividends are expected to be slashed by 25% to 50% across the globe this year compared with 2019. This will be an unwelcome (if not entirely [...]
Profit nearly halves at Nationwide as it books expected coronavirus losses May 29, 2020 Building society Nationwide’s annual profit nearly halved it said today as it warned of rising loan losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. The lender also said it was abandoning some of its member benefit targets in response to the crisis. Nationwide booked a £101m hit from expected credit losses and said it will focus on [...]
Daniel Hannan: Slash taxes and ramp up spending to boost economy May 28, 2020 Influential free-marketeer Daniel Hannan has told City A.M.’s The City View podcast that the government should both cut taxes and increase spending to help Britain recover from the coronavirus crash. The former Tory MEP also said Britain should be exiting its lockdown much quicker, given that other European states are doing so without suffering a [...]
Coronavirus deaths jump to 412 after bank holiday weekend lag May 27, 2020 Coronavirus-related deaths in the UK jumped to 412 today after falling earlier in the week following the bank holiday. The Department of Health said 37,460 people have died with coronavirus in total as of 5pm on 26 May, up 412 on the previous day. Yesterday, the Department of Health said 134 people had died with [...]
Small businesses borrow £18bn in three weeks under Bounce Back Loan Scheme May 27, 2020 Small and medium-sized businesses have borrowed more than £18bn under the government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) in its first three weeks of operation. The BBLS was introduced by chancellor Rishi Sunk after criticism that the existing Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) was not being made accessible to many businesses by the banks administering [...]