Coronavirus: UK job vacancies plummet in March April 14, 2020 The number of UK permanent job vacancies has been cut in half by the coronavirus outbreak, according to new figures. Jobs data, released today by growth analytics platform cube19 for the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), showed that permanent vacancies in the last week of March were down by 50 per cent year-on-year. Contract vacancies [...]
UK GDP could fall by 30 per cent in second quarter April 13, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has reportedly told ministers to expect GDP to fall by as much as 30 per cent between April and June. The government’s draconian social distancing measures will be reviewed next week, with an extension considered a formality. The coronavirus lockdown has already begun to bite the UK economy, with activity in the [...]
Exclusive: Sadiq Khan says Londoners neglected by coronavirus self-employed package April 13, 2020 Sadiq Khan has written to chancellor Rishi Sunak to demand more financial help is given to the capital’s self-employed workers amidst findings that one-in-three self-employed Londoners will not receive any assistance. The London mayor’s letter, written to Sunak and business secretary Alok Sharma, claims that up to 290,000 Londoners, 12 per cent of the capital’s [...]
City bigwigs urged to help save businesses from coronavirus collapse April 12, 2020 Dozens of the City’s most high-profile denizens have been urged to offer their support to a taskforce that will prop up businesses at risk of collapse due to the coronavirus crisis. A group of more than 40 grandees were on Thursday asked to offer assistance pro bono on everything from legal advice to asset management. [...]
RBS pays out 70 per cent of government coronavirus loans April 12, 2020 The vast majority of the emergency coronavirus cash being doled out to small businesses has come from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the lender has revealed. Taxpayer-backed RBS has so far approved 2,500 loans — roughly 70 per cent — under the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), the Sunday Telegraph reported. The [...]
Manchester Airport backs Virgin Atlantic bailout as airlines call for more support April 12, 2020 The boss of Manchester Airport has pleaded with the chancellor to save Virgin Atlantic from collapse as UK airlines urge the government to extend its support during the coronavirus crisis. Manchester Airports Group chief Charlie Cornish said Virgin was the biggest long-haul carrier at the airport, flying nearly 1m people a year to New York, [...]
Former business secretary Greg Clark leads calls for overhaul of coronavirus loan scheme April 9, 2020 Former business secretary Greg Clark MP today branded the government’s coronavirus loan scheme for small and medium-sized businesses a “disappointment” and called for an overhaul of the programme. “It hasn’t been taken up as widely as was touted when it was first launched. Since it was there to provide finance for businesses in substantial quantities [...]
Boris Johnson ‘getting better’ but remains in intensive care with covid-19 April 9, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “getting better” a government minister said today, but remains in intensive care suffering from covid-19. Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’s hospital in London on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough. On Monday he was moved to the hospital’s intensive care department after his condition worsened. [...]
Coronavirus: UK tech sector ‘at risk’ as firms miss out on loans April 8, 2020 The thriving UK tech sector is under threat as firms are missing out on a £330bn coronavirus support plan, Deliveroo, Citymapper and more have warned. In a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, 12 of the UK’s most prominent tech chiefs today called for an urgent meeting with officials to find a way for tech firms [...]
UK’s wage subsidy scheme on track for April roll out April 8, 2020 The government’s wage subsidy scheme is on track to be open on schedule as the nation’s top taxman warns it could be targeted by fraudsters. The Job Retention Scheme sees the government pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 a month, for employees that have been unable to work during the Covid-19 crisis [...]