City Hall report: A quarter of London businesses on brink of collapse May 13, 2020 Almost a quarter of London businesses are on the brink of collapse, according to new figures from City Hall. A YouGov survey commissioned by City Hall’s London Growth Hub found 23 per cent of the capital’s businesses won’t last more than two months of the coronavirus lockdown, which began on 13 March. The report found [...]
Rishi Sunak: UK set for ‘significant recession’ May 13, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the UK will be plunged into a “significant recession” in the wake of figures showing the economy contracted in the first quarter. It was the first time during the crisis that Sunak has admitted a recession is on its way, telling The Telegraph that “we’re at a time of unprecedented [...]
UK GDP shrinks: Economists warn worst yet to come as lockdown persists May 13, 2020 The UK economy shrank by a record 5.8 per cent in March, thanks almost entirely to just over a week of coronavirus lockdown that began on the 23rd. In the first quarter as a whole GDP contracted by two per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today. This was its worst performance since [...]
Coronavirus: UK economy shrinks two per cent in first quarter of 2020 May 13, 2020 The UK economy shrank by two per cent in the first three months of 2020 due to the impact of coronavirus, official GDP data showed today. The slump showed the UK economy’s contracted at its fastest rate since the height of the financial crisis in 2008. The lockdown, which started on 23 March, saw the [...]
Coronavirus: UK relief package for self-employed opens today May 13, 2020 Applications will open this morning for the government’s £9bn coronavirus support package for the self-employed, with first payments expected on 25 May. The scheme will open weeks earlier than initially anticipated, and will see self-employed workers get paid up to £7,500 as a lump sum for three months’ income. Funds are expected in applicants’ bank [...]
Coronavirus: A third of small firms fear collapse amid redundancy plans May 13, 2020 A third of small firms are considering redundancies while thousands fear they will never reopen as the Covid-19 crisis devastates the UK economy. Roughly 40 per cent of small businesses have been forced to close their doors since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown in March. Of those that have closed, more than a third [...]
UK banks lend £15bn through coronavirus loan schemes May 12, 2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak today said the UK banking and finance industry has provided almost £15bn to almost 304,000 businesses through three government-backed coronavirus loan schemes. In the week since the bounce back loan scheme (BBLS) launched, £8.4bn has been approved to 268,173 businesses – an average of 38,000 loans a day. Lenders have provided [...]
Furlough: When will the job retention scheme end? May 12, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s job retention scheme has won wide plaudits for helping workers stay employed via furlough during the coronavirus crisis. Furlough has been one of the fundamental pillars in the chancellor’s economic response to the crisis and it has effectively amounted to temporary state socialism. The historic policy has seen the government – a [...]
Job retention scheme: Rishi Sunak extends furlough scheme until October May 12, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme until October and has promised furloughed workers they will not see a further dip in their salary until it ends. Sunak announced today that the scheme will remain the same until the end of July, but from August to October there will be “greater [...]
Hundreds of firms yet to receive money through furlough scheme May 12, 2020 Hundreds of UK firms who have furloughed staff during the coronavirus pandemic are yet to receive money through the government’s scheme. The job retention scheme has been a cornerstone of the Chancellor’s coronavirus support package. It sees the government pay up to 80 per cent of wages, of up to £2,500 a month, to workers [...]