Coronavirus: England set for national lockdown, PM says October 31, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson tonight ordered England back into a national lockdown
FSB: banks must ‘step up’ support for new Bounce Back Loan applications October 30, 2020 The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called for the government to introduce further support measures and for banks to “step up” to ensure small businesses can access the financing they need. The organisation said it was “particularly concerned” by the number of small businesses that were struggling to access government-backed Bounce Back Loans (BBLs) [...]
Scrapping the VAT refund for tourists would be catastrophic for the UK economy October 30, 2020 Retail, hospitality and tourism are three of the sectors that have been hardest hit by Covid-19 and the ongoing lockdown restrictions. Employing close to six million people, job losses in these sectors are expected to be devastating. The government should be doing all it can to support these businesses at this critical time. Instead, it [...]
US firm Prologis sells UK logistics assets to Blackstone for record-breaking £473m October 29, 2020 US real estate firm Prologis has sold its UK logistics properties to Blackstone for a record-breaking £473m. It represents the largest sale of logistics real estate assets on record in the UK, Prologis said, and highlights the strength of the sector as an investment asset class. The portfolio comprises about 4.3m sq ft of buildings [...]
Coronavirus: London R rate catapults to highest in the country October 29, 2020 Covid-19 is now spreading fastest in the capital, according to the latest official estimates, raising fears of a Tier 3 London lockdown. The ‘R rate’ — the rate of spread of infection — has catapulted to a best estimate of 2.9 in London, the highest rate in the country. Figures released today by the Department [...]
StanChart considers resuming dividend after quarterly profit beats estimate October 29, 2020 Standard Chartered said it would consider resuming dividends after reporting a smaller-than-expected 40 per cent drop in third quarter profit as it lowered coronavirus loan loss expectations. The UK-based, Asia-focused lender posted an underlying pre-tax profit of $745m (£572m) for the three months to September, significantly ahead of bank-compiled analyst forecasts of $502m, Standard Chartered [...]
Generation Covid are being denied the opportunities we all took for granted October 29, 2020 This week, a new study by the London School of Economics — the most comprehensive of its kind — confirmed our worst fears about the economically divisive impact of the pandemic. Any pretext that we are “all in this together” has been utterly dashed. According to the research, young people have seen their job prospects and earnings [...]
Death of the middleman? The myth of selling straight to the customer October 29, 2020 This pandemic has driven consumers online at a pace no one could predict, with Covid-19 forecast to generate an additional £4.5bn of UK online sales in 2020. Social distancing has set in motion a dramatic shift in how we shop — our business alone saw a more than 230 per cent growth rate in online [...]
Keep the dream alive, and support a female-led business during lockdown October 29, 2020 When Kiera-Lorelle opened the doors to her new family business — Cinnamon Leaf foodhall in Tottenham, North London — she was full of hope: “It’s been a life-long dream of my mum’s to open a store.” That was back in January. Needless to say, the months since haven’t been easy. But Cinnamon Leaf has carried [...]
Pantechnicon: The perfect place to avoid Tier 2 restrictions October 28, 2020 It has been some time since City A.M. put together a Working Lunch column, because the very idea of a working lunch has for much of this year seemed like a quaint artefact of the distant past, like promenading down a pier or engaging in courtly gossip with the King’s favourites. But thanks to a [...]