City lobby calls for technology boost for financial services sector in Budget February 25, 2021 The UK’s major financial services lobby group has urged Rishi Sunak to speed up the country’s rollout of full fibre broadband in next week’s Budget to ensure the City’s tech infrastructure does not fall behind other major finance centres. TheCityUK said the “existing speed and availability of key infrastructure in the UK, such as broadband, [...]
Extending the stamp duty holiday won’t avoid a cliff-edge, it will make the eventual fall steeper February 24, 2021 The stamp duty holiday created a bloated and false economy in the housing market; it’s time to scrap the policy, not extend it. Rishi Sunak introduced the policy last summer. The idea was simple enough – add a bit of fuel to the property market and stoke consumer spending by only making buyers cough up [...]
Keir Starmer pushes Boris Johnson to rule out corporation tax rise February 24, 2021 Sir Keir Starmer has called for Boris Johnson to rule out a rise in corporation tax in next week’s Budget amid rumours Rishi Sunak could increase the rate to 25 per cent. Starmer said that “now is not the time for tax rises on families and businesses” at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today. The Times [...]
Chancellor ‘to pay out £7,500 grants’ for self-employed in Budget February 24, 2021 The chancellor will pay out grants of up to £7,500 for self-employed workers in next week’s Budget, though he is considering dropping the scheme from May, according to reports. The fourth round of grants handed out through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will cover February, March and April. People who meet the criteria will [...]
Heathrow plummets to £2bn loss in ‘toughest year in airport’s history’ February 24, 2021 Heathrow Airport plummeted to a loss of more than £2bn last year, amid the “toughest year by far” in its 75-year history, the company announced this morning. The airport crashed to an annual pre-tax loss of £2.01bn for the 12 months to 31 December, down from a profit of £546m in 2019. Revenue plunged 62 [...]
Chancellor set to extend stamp duty holiday ‘until end of June’ February 24, 2021 Chancellor set to extend stamp duty holiday 'until end of June'
Easy does it for travel and leisure as they underpin the FTSE 100 today February 23, 2021 After a promising start European markets struggled to maintain their early market optimism today. However, some decent gains continue in the likes of travel and leisure stocks, with multi-month highs in a lot of cases. Over the last three days this renewed buoyancy has been evident in anticipation of a possible reopening, and with a [...]
Unemployment hikes to 5.1 per cent in biggest leap in a decade February 23, 2021 The UK unemployment rate marked its highest increase in 2020 in more than a decade, according to the latest official statistics, as the labour market continues to feel the weight of months of closures during the pandemic. The annual increase in the unemployment rate last year was the largest jump since the wake of the [...]
Roadmap: Hospitality industry faces financial ruin as sector remains shut until April February 22, 2021 The hospitality industry has reacted with fury as the Prime Minister plans to allow pubs and restaurants to serve outdoors only and not until 12 April. Currently, only 40 per cent of businesses in hospitality have outdoor spaces, meaning most will still face restrictions after April. In response to today’s announcement, UK Hospitality Chief Kate [...]
Boris Johnson indicates furlough scheme will be extended past April February 22, 2021 Boris Johnson has today vowed “not to pull the rug out” on people receiving emergency Covid support, indicating that he will extend the furlough scheme and other measures past April. Johnson outlined England’s roadmap out of the current Covid lockdown, telling MPs that the easing of lockdown would be a “one way road to freedom”. [...]