Driving home for Christmas? Government puts road and rail works on ice December 3, 2020 The government will cancel planned roadworks and rail upgrades, and also lay on extra services, to ease people’s journeys over the Christmas period. With a large number of people expected to travel to visit relatives and friends over the holidays, ministers have put in place plans for a special travel window between 23 and 27 [...]
Aldi becomes fourth supermarket to return business rate relief December 3, 2020 Aldi has become the forth supermarket to return the full value of the business rate relief it has received during the pandemic. Aldi will pay back more than £100m to the government and devolved administrations. The decision follows pledges from Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s to do the same, which will pay back £585m, £230m and [...]
Nicola Sturgeon is no Mother Christmas December 3, 2020 If there is one political certainty I would bet my house on, it’s that when politicians are in serious trouble they will suddenly make a major announcement to push the damaging story off the news agenda. There is no better exponent of this trait than the media operation of Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish government, [...]
Lockdown batters UK footfall but retailers hope for Christmas boost December 3, 2020 Retail footfall plummeted in November amid the closure of non-essential shops, though the decline was less severe than the first lockdown earlier this year. Visitor numbers were down more than 51 per cent year on year last month as tighter Covid-19 restrictions took their toll on the high street. The decline was steeper than the [...]
Central London footfall surges in Wild Wednesday shopping spree December 2, 2020 Footfall levels in central London surged today as shoppers and office workers returned to the capital after England’s second coronavirus lockdown came to an end. Central London reported a 91.1 per cent jump in visitors by 5pm, compared with the same day last week as the city entered Tier 2 coronavirus restrictions. Footfall remains down [...]
Shop prices dip as desperate retailers discount to attract customers December 2, 2020 Shop prices dipped last month as retailers discounted to encourage consumer spending in the run up to Christmas, which was disrupted by store closures during the second coronavirus lockdown. Prices fell 1.8 per cent in November compared to a 1.2 per cent decline in October, driven by a surge in discounting of non-food products such [...]
Square Mile comes back to life as second lockdown ends December 2, 2020 As London emerges from the second lockdown there are tentative signs that life is returning to the City. London today entered Tier 2, representing a slight easing of lockdown restrictions, just as news of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine approval landed in the Square Mile. City leaders breathe a sigh of relief Gyms, barbers and beauty salons [...]
UK ‘through Covid by Spring’ but economic benefits are ‘months away’ December 2, 2020 The UK will be through the coronavirus pandemic by Spring, Matt Hancock said this morning, following news the Pfizer/BioNTech has been approved for distribution in the UK. Health minister Matt Hancock has said the UK will be ‘through this by Spring’, but despite the optimism, analysts have predicted there will not be an immediate boost [...]
Tesco to pay back £585m in emergency support with pandemic risks ‘behind us’ December 2, 2020 Tesco this morning said that it would pay back £585m of business rates relief it received to protect it from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The supermarket said that paying back the emergency funding was “the right thing to do”, adding that some of the risks from the pandemic were now behind it. In [...]
From today, business lunches are allowed again December 2, 2020 Business lunches inside ARE allowed under new Tier 2 restrictions, so from today, the Government has confirmed. The Business Department confirmed the policy to City A.M. earlier. Official sources have though said that a traditional office Christmas lunch would not be permitted under the rules coming into place in London today. Government guidance dictates that [...]