Just Eat boss Peter Duffy moves to Moneysupermarket May 15, 2020 Just Eat boss Peter Duffy has been appointed as chief executive of price comparison website Moneysupermarket. Duffy, who was chief commercial operator at Easyjet before he joined takeaway giant Just Eat, will take the reins at Moneysupermarket from 1 September. He will replace Mark Lewis who announced he would step down as chief executive in [...]
Canary Wharf draws up plans for return to work May 15, 2020 Canary Wharf has drawn up plans to allow bankers, accountants and lawyers back to the financial district as lockdown restrictions start to ease. The London estate, home to the European headquarters of Barclays, Citigroup and HSBC, is issuing guidance to tenants this week, according to the Financial Times. The plans include introducing one-way routes, limiting [...]
Watch: Christian May discusses the problems with the CBILS scheme May 14, 2020 City A.M. editor Christian May has said UK SMEs are hitting a brick wall trying to access the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS), and warned there may be further trouble ahead. The CBILS scheme allows companies to apply for a loan through 60 accredited lenders to stay afloat during the coronavirus crisis. But issues with [...]
Square Mile lockdown: City firms plot staff’s return to work May 14, 2020 City banks and professional services firms are drawing up plans to send staff back to the office as the UK begins to ease its coronavirus lockdown. Earlier this week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that people who can work from home should continue to do so, as he laid out guidance to make workplaces “Covid-secure”. [...]
Young’s pub chain to secure extra £100m financing to survive coronavirus crisis May 13, 2020 Pub chain Young’s said it is in the process of securing an additional £100m of financial headroom to help sustain the business throughout the coronavirus crisis. The company said it has issued paper with a value of £30m and a maturity date of 13 May 2021 under the government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility. It is [...]
Small businesses call for furloughed workers to return to work May 11, 2020 Staff should be allowed to return to work while furloughed to help improve the chances of their employer’s business of surviving the Covid-19 crisis, small businesses have said. In an open letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, business owners said that while the job retention scheme had helped businesses avoid layoffs, the current plan meant employers [...]
Banking boss raises prospect of further changes to Coronavirus Business Loan Scheme May 8, 2020 There could be further changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) as more data emerges on the number of rejected applications, according to the head of the banking industry group, UK Finance. Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “I think as the data gets better we will continue to find where [...]
£2bn of ‘bounce back’ loans for SMEs approved in first 24 hours May 6, 2020 More than 69,000 so-called coronavirus bounce back loans were approved on the first day of them being made available via banks. The approvals equate to over £2bn in loans during the first 24 hours of the bounce back scheme’s launch on Monday, chancellor Rishi Sunak said today. The seven largest UK banks including HSBC, Barclays, [...]
Business organisations form coalition in response to coronavirus May 6, 2020 Leading employer organisations have joined forces to create a united voice for business in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A group of more than 20 organisations have formed the Business Action Council (BAC), which claims to represent more than half a million businesses across the UK. Its founding members include the Confederation of British Industry [...]
Nine new lenders approved under coronavirus loan scheme May 6, 2020 Investec is among a group of nine lenders that have today been approved for accreditation under the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS). Assetz Capital, Atom bank, Ebury, Fleximize, Investec, Social Investment Business, Tower Leasing, Ultimate Finance and White Oak UK will now be able to provide financial support to small businesses across the [...]