Wrong masks, retrospective due diligence and absent records: Litany of govt PPE failure laid bare November 18, 2020 A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has offered examples of some of the failures made by the Cabinet Office when it came to procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The investigative report, which was published by the NAO today, has outlined examples of the government handing [...]
Why the pandemic and the coming economic downturn will accelerate Bitcoin’s adoption November 18, 2020 In October this year, Mode floated on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market. Two weeks later, we decided to allocate a portion of the money we raised to purchase Bitcoin as part of our treasury strategy. In doing so, we became the first plc in the UK to officially announce the diversification of our reserves [...]
Pandemic wipes £1bn off British Land’s portfolio as retailers take a hit November 18, 2020 The pandemic has wiped almost £1bn off commercial landlord British Land’s (BLND) portfolio after retailers were forced to close and offices lay empty. The FTSE 100 firm said the value of its portfolio of offices and shops had fallen from £11.2bn in March to £10.3bn by the end of September. The structural challenges in retail [...]
FTSE 100 dips as coronavirus infections come back into focus November 18, 2020 The FTSE 100 has fallen for a second day as investors return their focus to rising coronavirus cases and new restrictions after positive vaccine news boosted global markets. London’s blue-chip index was down 0.5 per cent shortly after the open, taking it to 6,336 points. The FTSE 250 of slightly smaller firms was 0.2 per [...]
Editorial: London cannot be kept under lock and key a moment longer than planned November 17, 2020 Over the past fortnight, since new national lockdown restrictions came into force, there has been something of a suspicion abroad in London and the south-east that our part of the country has been collateral damage as a result of increasing cases and deaths elsewhere in the country. To our untrained eye, new data released Tuesday [...]
Exclusive: Tube use hit post-lockdown peak on day before new restrictions November 17, 2020 Tube use peaked on the day before the second national lockdown came into effect as Londoners rushed to offices and shops ahead of the new restrictions. New figures from Transport for London reveal that there were nearly 1.8m journeys on the London Underground on 4 November, around 400,000 more than the same day a week [...]
Sarah Frankland on how to get into lockdown baking through macarons November 17, 2020 Just as lockdown 1 started there was a huge spike in people making baking-related google searches, with “banana bread” and “cheesecake” becoming almost as popular as “coronavirus” and “the end of civilisation as we know it”. Now we’re well into the sequel of lockdown, which is somehow both more dangerous and more boring, people are [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks slip as investors focus on virus November 17, 2020 The FTSE 100 fell along with global stocks after jumping yesterday, as investors eased off on their rush into risk assets with months of uncertainty still ahead for the global economy. Drug firm Moderna’s announcement that its vaccine had shown to be almost 95 per cent effective in late-stage trials cheered markets yesterday, sending the [...]
Coronavirus vaccine could pump £41bn into London’s economy November 17, 2020 The effective rollout of a coronavirus vaccine would likely inject £41bn into London’s economy and save tens of thousands of jobs, according to new research. Under a “best case scenario”, a vaccine rollout would see office workers return to their desks for four days a week, generating an extra £41bn for the economy, according to [...]
UK retail footfall ‘more resilient’ in second lockdown November 16, 2020 Retail footfall has been more resilient during the second coronavirus lockdown compared to the first closure of non-essential stores in March, the latest analysis showed. Between Thursday and Saturday footfall in retail destinations rose by an average of 13.2 per cent from the same three days in the week before, when the lockdown began. Shoppers [...]