Scottish government does U-turn on coronavirus business grant scheme April 15, 2020 The Scottish government has changed its coronavirus business grant scheme to make it more generous for hospitality, retail and tourism chains after mounting criticism from the private sector. SNP finance minister Kate Forbes unveiled £220m of new grants today in a bid to close the gap between relief available for Scottish and English businesses. English [...]
Wage subsidy scheme opens as start-ups get new £1.25bn package April 20, 2020 Applications open today for the government’s coronavirus wage subsidy scheme as the Treasury also announces a further £1.25bn package for start-ups and research and development firms. The job retention scheme will see the government pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 a month, to furloughed employees unable to work because of the coronavirus [...]
Costain shares crash as firm hits up investors for £100m March 11, 2020 Shares in engineering firm Costain plummeted 34 per cent today as it revealed plans to launch a £100m fund raise to bolster its balance sheet. Costain’s stock slumped to 104.8p after the announcement, which came off the back of a £6.6m loss before tax in 2019 – compared to a £40.2m profit in 2018. The [...]
EU rejects UK’s call for quick agreement on financial services equivalence March 16, 2020 The EU’s head of financial regulation has rejected the UK’s calls for the City’s future access to the bloc’s markets to be settled by the end of June, warning that Brussels’ decision will be based on the extent Britain wants to deviate from EU rules. UK chancellor Rishi Sunak last month called on the EU [...]
Tech giants summoned to Downing Street in coronavirus crackdown March 11, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has summoned major tech firms to Downing Street tonight as the government cracks down on misinformation about coronavirus. Executives from all big social media companies are set to attend the Tech CEO Round Table, where they will be asked to commit “data, assets and expertise” to the fight against the outbreak. [...]
Dignity shares plunge as it suspends dividend March 11, 2020 Funeral company Dignity’s shares plummeted today as it continued the suspension of its dividend following a 31 per cent drop in underlying pre-tax profit to £37.7m for 2019. That fell short of an expected £38.7m to send Dignity’s shares crashing 23 per cent to 385.8p. The UK’s only listed funeral provider said fewer people dying [...]
Coronavirus: Government will not provide industry-wide airline rescue package March 24, 2020 The government will not provide a single support package for the UK’s airlines and airports, but will instead provide aid on a case-by-case basis. The decision is an apparent u-turn on the government’s original plan. Last week chancellor Rishi Sunak said he would be discussing a potential package for “specifically airlines and airports”. Instead, Sunak [...]
UK government to spend £75m on charter flights for stranded Britons March 30, 2020 The government will subsidise airlines to bring home UK nationals stuck abroad in a £75m deal. Travellers stuck in countries with no commercial flight options available will have charter flights made available “at little to no cost”, according to foreign secretary Dominic Raab. Raab announced today that British Airways, Virgin, Easy Jet, Jet 2 and [...]
Tory MP calls on government to extend job retention scheme April 29, 2020 A Conservative London MP has called on the government to extend the job retention scheme that pays “furloughed” workers’ wages to help businesses hit by a plunge in international visitors. Nickie Aiken, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, and the Association of International Retail have written to chancellor Rishi Sunak to say that businesses [...]
DEBATE: Should the chancellor bend the fiscal rules to increase spending in his first Budget? March 10, 2020 Should the chancellor bend the fiscal rules to increase spending in his first Budget? Will Tanner, director of Onward, says YES. It is the prerogative of a twenty-first century chancellor to set the rules of your own tenure. Gordon Brown, George Osborne, Philip Hammond and Sajid Javid (who never delivered a Budget) all established the [...]