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 [...]
£2bn of ‘bounce back’ loans for SMEs approved in first 24 hours May 6, 2020 More than 69,000 so-called coronavirus bounce back loans were approved on the first day of them being made available via banks. The approvals equate to over £2bn in loans during the first 24 hours of the bounce back scheme’s launch on Monday, chancellor Rishi Sunak said today. The seven largest UK banks including HSBC, Barclays, [...]
England could face two-week ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown after Christmas December 18, 2021 Dark clouds are looming over the festive season with ministers planning a circuit breaker lockdown after Christmas to tackle the Omicron variant.
Weekend Read: Growing number of companies opt for four-day week as Brits want better work-life balance January 15, 2022 After Atom Bank said it planned to introduce a four-day working week, at the end of last year, a growing number of companies are looking to introduce the so-called ‘4-3 model’. Panasonic and Bolt have become the latest employers to shave off one day a week. They are following the trend that more and more Brits [...]
Martin Gilbert: Coronavirus ‘multiple times worse’ than Black Monday for City April 29, 2020 Veteran asset manager Martin Gilbert has warned the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will be “the most dramatic we’ve seen since the 1930s” as he warned of “a long, slow recovery” for certain sectors of the economy. Speaking to The City View podcast today, Gilbert said that though Black Monday in 1987 was a [...]
Budget 2020: Rishi Sunak gives economy £30bn boost amid coronavirus outbreak March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £30bn stimulus package to support the UK economy through the coronavirus outbreak in the biggest spending spree in almost 30 years. Sunak – who was made chancellor last month – said it was one of the most comprehensive responses to the outbreak by any government. The plan earmarks £12bn [...]
Barclays’ first quarter profit falls by £600m amid coronavirus disruption April 29, 2020 Barclays’ profit has tumbled to £923m in the first quarter, down from £1.54bn in the same period last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. it revealed today. The bank also booked an impairment charge of £2.1bn, which it said reflected its “initial estimates of the impact of the pandemic”. However, Barclays’ shares jumped five per [...]
Labour’s Ian Murray: We need universal basic income to beat coronavirus March 20, 2020 The government must introduce a universal basic income to protect the UK’s most vulnerable workers amid a coronavirus-fuelled economic downturn, Labour deputy leadership contender Ian Murray warned this week. He also called on Boris Johnson to step up measures to protect businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic – or risk “local community businesses [...]
Six reasons why automation is poised to accelerate September 11, 2020 Automation has long been a feature of the manufacturing sector, as companies seek to improve productivity and make high quality goods to a specific standard. But we think the level of automation is set for a sharp increase as innovation sparks a new smart manufacturing revolution. In the short term, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought [...]
SSE Networks bows to stakeholders and plots a £4bn net zero investment July 1, 2021 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) may pledge over £4bn in the push for net zero, the energy giant said in a draft business plan today. The draft plan for 2023 to 2028, which was led by stakeholders according to SSEN, set goals like cutting unplanned power interruptions by 20 per cent and connecting a [...]