Coronavirus: Pandemic heaps uncertainty on house price growth March 16, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus outbreak has heaped uncertainty on London’s housing market, which had started to rally following the Conservative general election victory. The price of property coming to market in the capital surged 5.1 per cent year on year last month to an average of £638,826, the highest annual rate of growth since May 2016. [...]
London mayoral election delayed for one year over coronavirus March 13, 2020 The London mayoral election and all local and mayoral elections in England have been postponed for a year because of the coronavirus outbreak. The Electoral Commission yesterday called for local and mayoral UK elections to be delayed until the autumn to “mitigate” the spread of coronavirus. The London election was due to take place on [...]
Extinction Rebellion cancels London protest over coronavirus March 13, 2020 Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has cancelled its next London protest due to the coronavirus pandemic. The group, also known as XR, had scheduled a mass protest in London on 23 May to call for action on tackling the climate crisis. The planned date of the protest, which coincides with the start of the UK [...]
2020 Budget live: City reacts to Rishi Sunak’s spending plans March 11, 2020 Welcome to City A.M.’s 2020 Budget Day live blog. Please refresh your browser for live updates. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to address fears over the economic impact of coronavirus, and announce waves of new infrastructure spending and changes on taxation in his 2020 Budget. It comes after Bank of England governor Mark Carney earlier [...]
Coronavirus: City recruiter braced for Square Mile hiring ‘to fall off a cliff’ March 11, 2020 Top City recruiter Morgan McKinley yesterday said hiring in the Square Mile could grind to a halt if the coronavirus outbreak causes more businesses to close offices and make staff work from home. Already financial services recruiters are noticing an increase in requests to reschedule face-to-face interviews between clients and candidates to be over telephone [...]
NBCUniversal quietly offloads $500m Snapchat stake March 9, 2020 NBCUniversal has quietly offloaded its $500m (£381m) stake in Snapchat as the US media giant ramps up preparations for its new streaming service. Parent company Comcast acquired the shareholding in March 2017 when Snap completed its initial public offering. The investment was passed to NBCUniversal, which then quietly sold off the stake last year. NBCUniversal [...]
Flybe’s last flight: How Europe’s biggest regional airline met its demise March 9, 2020 At 8.30pm on Wednesday evening, passengers were still being ushered onto planes bearing the indigo livery of Flybe. Half an hour later, members of the cabin crew on one of its last ever flights, from Manchester to Belfast, were crying, having just lost their jobs. “Staff in tears. This is so grim,” tweeted Holly Hamilton, [...]
Budget 2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap ‘tampon tax’ March 6, 2020 The so-called tampon tax is set to be abolished in next week’s Budget. A zero rate of VAT will apply to women’s sanitary products from the start of next year. The UK has been obliged to pay the EU VAT Directive since 1973 and the tampon tax is currently five per cent. MPs voted against [...]
Nissan puts £400m into Sunderland factory despite Brexit tariff fears March 6, 2020 Nissan will invest £400m into its Sunderland plant in a much needed boost for the facility, the future of which has been in doubt due to fears over possible tariffs post Brexit. The investment comes as Nissan ramps up its preparations for its new Qashqai model, including a £52m new press line, which was unveiled [...]
Government working with supermarkets to ensure self-isolating coronavirus patients can be supplied with food March 6, 2020 The government is working with supermarkets to make sure people self-isolating due to coronavirus can still be supplied with food, the health minister said yesterday. Responding to an audience member concerned about possible food shortages in a coronavirus epidemic on BBC’s Question Time Matt Hancock said there was absolutely no need” for people to buy [...]