Lifting coronavirus restrictions could lead to second peak, says Number 10 April 20, 2020 Easing the country’s coronavirus social distancing restrictions too quickly could cause a second peak of infections, Downing Street has warned. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman poured cold water on the suggestions the lockdown could be eased next month, saying it could mean the virus would “begin to spread exponentially again”. The Sunday Times reported yesterday [...]
Coronavirus hits hospitality: London without the pubs, bars and restaurants would be so much poorer April 19, 2020 Living in London is not always easy. Over recent years, a cottage industry has developed in newspapers’ features sections in which a previously harried writer explains why they’re glad they left the Big Smoke, the packed underground trains, the occasionally grubby air. Good for them. But you try getting some decent Lebanese food at 10:30pm [...]
Coronavirus hits hospitality: Loan scheme leaves restaurants high and dry April 19, 2020 Ranald MacDonald is Managing Director of Boisdale’s Restaurants In newspapers, so I’m told, a cracking story is known as a “marmalade dropper,” so named because it stops you – and indeed your toast – in your tracks. And that’s exactly what Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a £330bn rescue package for British business to get through [...]
UK considers three-stage ‘traffic light’ plan to exit coronavirus lockdown April 19, 2020 Michael Gove has poured cold water on reports that schools and some shops could be re-opened by next month in an easing of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions. When asked about a government report first leaked to Buzzfeed about the UK’s three-stage lockdown exit plan, Gove said it was not correct that schools could be [...]
Coronavirus: The Gym Group and Hollywood Bowl latest to tap investors for cash April 17, 2020 UK businesses are racing to raise equity and shore up their finances during the coronavirus crisis, with The Gym Group and Hollywood Bowl among the latest firms to tap investors for cash. According to research by Peel Hunt, there have been 32 equity raises of at least £5m in the UK since the middle of [...]
CMA provisionally clears Amazon’s £442m Deliveroo investment over coronavirus April 17, 2020 A UK watchdog today provisionally cleared Amazon’s massive £442m investment into Deliveroo due to the risk the food delivery firm faces from coronavirus. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) called the situation “wholly unprecedented” but said the cash was “realistically only available from Amazon”. Deliveroo has seen a significant decline in revenues from the UK [...]
Donald Trump set to lay out ‘guidelines’ for reopening US April 16, 2020 US president Donald Trump is tonight expected to release medically-approved guidelines to reopen parts of the country’s economy, which has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. A White House official said that the president would use this evening’s press conference to lay out the “recommendations”, which are “flexible and data-driven”. The official added that the [...]
Scottish government does U-turn on coronavirus business grant scheme April 15, 2020 The Scottish government has changed its coronavirus business grant scheme to make it more generous for hospitality, retail and tourism chains after mounting criticism from the private sector. SNP finance minister Kate Forbes unveiled £220m of new grants today in a bid to close the gap between relief available for Scottish and English businesses. English [...]
How to make the perfect cup of coffee at home April 14, 2020 It’s not just you struggling to get going without a decent cup of coffee in the morning. Covid-19 has robbed many of us of our regular fix in the morning – but all is not lost. With a bit more time at home (ok, a lot more), now might be the time to master a [...]
Cross-sector expert group offers free mentoring for businesses facing coronavirus crisis April 9, 2020 Experts across all sectors, including retail, hospitality and tech, have teamed up to provide mentoring for company founders and chief executives affected by the outbreak of coronavirus. The All Together scheme includes Martin Williams, the chief executive of Gaucho and M Restaurant brands, Innocent Drinks co-founder Jon Wright and ex-Flying Tiger chief executive Xavier Vidal. [...]