IR35: Businesses welcome delay, but many have already cut contractors March 18, 2020 Businesses may have welcomed the delay of the IR35 reforms but some have already laid off contractors and abandoned projects in anticipation of the changes. Last night, chief treasury secretary Steve Barclay announced that the tax reforms would be pushed back by one year, less than a week after the measures were confirmed in the [...]
IR35 reforms to be delayed for a year due to coronavirus March 17, 2020 Chief treasury secretary Steve Barclay this evening announced that the IR35 tax reforms would be pushed back by one year, less than a week after the controversial measures were confirmed in the Budget. Speaking at the despatch box in today’s Budget debate in the Commons, Barclay confirmed that the changes, which will clamp down on [...]
Sir Ian Cheshire to join BT as non-executive director March 15, 2020 Former head of department store Debenhams Sir Ian Cheshire is on the brink of being named as a non-executive director at telecoms giant BT. Sky News reported that Sir Ian’s appointment could be announced as early as this week, in a boardroom coup for Britain’s largest telecoms firm. Sir Ian, who currently chairs Barclays’ UK [...]
Economists warn of global recession as coronavirus spreads March 15, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says a global recession comes when annual international growth slips below 2.5 per cent. More charitable economists say it has to fall below two per cent. Either way, economists around have warned in recent days, the coronavirus outbreak means the world is heading for one. Covid-19 last week spread rapidly [...]
Extinction Rebellion cancels London protest over coronavirus March 13, 2020 Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has cancelled its next London protest due to the coronavirus pandemic. The group, also known as XR, had scheduled a mass protest in London on 23 May to call for action on tackling the climate crisis. The planned date of the protest, which coincides with the start of the UK [...]
UK coronavirus: PM to launch tougher measures to delay spread of Covid-19 March 12, 2020 The government will officially announce tougher measures to delay the spread of the UK coronavirus outbreak today after failing to contain the Covid-19 crisis. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to chair yet another Cobra meeting this afternoon, in which it is expected he will confirm the shift into the second stage of managing the outbreak. [...]
Barclays Canary Wharf worker tests positive for coronavirus March 11, 2020 A worker in Barclays Canary Wharf offices has tested positive for coronavirus, the bank confirmed today. In a statement, Barclays said: “We can confirm that a member of our staff based in our London office, five North Colonnade, has tested as positive for covid-19 today. The health and safety of our staff, customers and clients [...]
World Health Organisation says coronavirus outbreak is a pandemic March 11, 2020 The World Health Organisation (Who) today declared that the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus is a pandemic. “We have…made the assessment that Covid-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” Who director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing today. “In the past two weeks, the number of cases of Covid-19 outside China has increased 13-fold [...]
Budget 2020: Government to tax financial services firms to pay for economic crime fight March 11, 2020 The chancellor said today that the government would bring forward a levy on financial services firms to help pay for the fight against economic crime. It said businesses subject to the money laundering regulations would be subject to the tax which would aim to deliver reforms laid out in the government’s economic crime plan. Businesses [...]
UK coronavirus: Sixth Brit dies as Covid-19 infections hit 373 March 10, 2020 A sixth person has died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as the number of confirmed cases rises to 373. The patient, who was in their eighties and had underlying health conditions, was treated by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said it appeared that the virus was [...]