UK services economy stands strong amid Omicron Plan B assault January 24, 2022 Britain’s services economy has stood strong in the face of the re-emergence of curbs on daily life in a bid to clamp down on the Omicron variant, reveals a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the UK services industry came in at 53.3 for January, a marginal [...]
Omicron onslaught: Number of Brits with Covid jumps by nearly a million to 2.3m while NHS staff off sick with coronavirus doubles December 31, 2021 An estimated 2.3 million people in the UK had Covid-19 in the week ending December 23, up from 1.4 million in the week to December 16 and the highest number since comparable figures began in autumn 2020, the Office for National Statistics said. Meanwhile, the number of NHS hospital staff in England absent due to [...]
CPP Group ditches weaker offshoots in bid for higher profits March 29, 2022 CPP Group has undergone a string of disposals over the last year under a new board and executive team, in a bid to grow its profits. The group, which sells so-called ‘life assistance’ products like cybercrime solutions, continued to climb further into profitability over the last year, with pre-tax profit growing from £900,000 to £4.2m. [...]
Covid hospital admissions still tracking below even most optimistic SAGE scenarios June 2, 2021 The number of Brits admitted to hospital with Covid-19 remains lower than any of the four scenarios envisioned by SAGE scientists when the lockdown easing roadmap was produced. The number-crunching, performed by The Spectator and published on their data tracker, suggests the UK’s battle against Covid-19 has been more successful than even the most optimistic [...]
HMRC receives record high £157bn from VAT bills after tax holiday ends May 6, 2022 HMRC collected a record £157.2bn from VAT bills in 2021/22, a 55 per cent increase on the £101bn collected the year before.
British factories lift prices at record pace as Ukraine war and China lockdowns send costs soaring May 3, 2022 Severe supply chain disruption caused by Beijing persisting with its zero-Covid tolerance policy and Russia’s war with Ukraine has sent British factories’ costs soaring at the quickest pace on record, reveals a closely watched survey released today. Shortages of raw materials and key components used by UK manufacturers due to normal trade flows being choked [...]
Omicron delays historic Tel Aviv Emirates flight November 28, 2021 Dubai airline Emirates has postponed the 6 December launch of flights to Tel Aviv until further notice, a company spokesperson said today, after Israel announced it would ban foreigners from entering to combat the latest coronavirus variant. “The postponement comes as a result of recent changes in entry protocols issued by the Israeli government. The [...]
County is capable of giving Fownes a Fine Valley start September 13, 2022 AFTER a two-month break, inner-city track Happy Valley hosts its first meeting of the 2022/23 season in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with an eight-race programme starting at 12.15pm. Most of the talk during the close season centred around the general wellbeing of champion jockeys Zac Purton and Joao Moreira, who both suffered health issues in [...]
Heineken sales lower than expected after Vietnam lockdown October 27, 2021 Brewing behemoth Heineken posted a steeper than expected decline in third-quarter beer sales after coronavirus restrictions in Vietnam. Lockdown measures slashed volumes in Vietnam, one of its top three markets, by more than half. The brewer said it sold 5.1 per cent less beer on a like-for-like basis than a year earlier, with Asia-Pacific sales [...]
Critically-ill Covid patients far less likely to die when lying on stomach while receiving oxygen August 22, 2021 Critically-ill Covid-19 patients are far less likely to pass away or to require invasive ventilation if they are lying on their stomachs while receiving oxygen, according to a new global study. The impact of the technique, known as awake prone positioning, was assessed in hospitals in six countries and involved more than 1,000 coronavirus patients [...]