Can office workers save the day for local businesses ravaged by Covid-19? September 2, 2020 The sudden shift to remote working put in place by the majority of UK businesses may herald the end of the office, at least as we know it. Five months and multiple government campaigns later, and the shift to the kitchen table continues, seemingly unabated. According to a survey from US bank Morgan Stanley, just [...]
Boris Johnson picks Number 10 official as top civil servant August 31, 2020 Boris Johnson has reportedly chosen a Number 10 official as the head of the civil service, indicating the Prime Minister is pressing on with wide-sweeping reforms. Johnson will appoint Simon Case to head up the civil service on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. Case was appointed as the PM’s temporary permanent secretary in Number [...]
A no-deal Brexit could cause the UK’s digital sector to shrink August 28, 2020 The EU’s trade negotiator Michel Barnier recently said that a post-Brexit deal seemed unlikely. This supports our view at Securys that the Brexit transition period will close without an adequacy agreement, bringing an end to the unrestricted flow of data between the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA). Buried in a weekend article came [...]
UK economy: Retail footfall grows but job vacancies flatline August 27, 2020 The UK economy has continued its mixed recovery, with the number of Britons venturing out to the shops rising again but online job adverts staying flat for the third week in a row. Some areas remained in much worse shape than others, with 51 per cent of workers in the art and entertainment sector furloughed, [...]
EU trade boss Phil Hogan resigns over ‘golfgate’ August 26, 2020 EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan has today resigned after breaching coronavirus restrictions by attending a golf dinner. “It was becoming increasingly clear that the controversy concerning my recent visit to Ireland was becoming a distraction from my work as an EU Commissioner and would undermine my work in the key months ahead”, Hogan said in [...]
Southeastern to introduce colour-coded system to help commuters avoid busy trains August 25, 2020 Train franchise Southeastern will from next week tell passengers how busy their train is before they board to help them better observe social distancing rules. The operator, which runs rail services into London and the south-east, will become the first franchise to share such data directly with commuters in a bid to increase confidence that [...]
Balfour Beatty joint venture secures £1.3bn Hong Kong airport deal August 24, 2020 Construction firm Balfour Beatty this morning announced that its south-east Asia joint venture has won a HK$12.9bn (£1.27bn) contract to expand Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 2. Under the four-year deal, Gammon, of which the FTSE 250 company owns 50 per cent, will increase the size of the main terminal building and construct the surrounding [...]
EU trade boss Phil Hogan apologises for attending ‘golfgate’ dinner August 24, 2020 EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan apologised for attending a golf dinner that has caused outrage in Ireland as he tried to ride out pressure to resign. Adding to the scrutiny on Hogan, it also emerged that he had been stopped and cautioned by Irish police for using his phone while driving to the dinner. The [...]
Cabinet draws up plans for simultaneous no-deal Brexit and second Covid wave August 23, 2020 The government has drawn up plans to deal simultaneously with a second coronavirus wave and the effects of a no-deal Brexit after December 31. The Cabinet Office’s emergency plans include telling the Navy to protect the UK’s waters from illegal EU fishing boats and deploying the army on Brtain’s streets to quell civil unrest. The [...]
Home Grown Club boss on why the future of work is flexible August 22, 2020 While shops and restaurants are beginning to return to some semblance of normality, the evidence of coronavirus is still stark in London’s commercial districts. The City, perhaps more than anywhere, remains a ghost-town, its skyscrapers empty and its streets unclogged by the half a million commuters who used to make their daily pilgrimage. Offices will [...]