High street footfall soars on Super Saturday after lockdown lift July 6, 2020 Footfall in England hiked almost 36 per cent on Saturday evening, according to new research, as revellers flocked to high streets around the country to enjoy their first pints out after more than three months of lockdown. New data released by Springboard today showed that footfall on English high streets rose 35.8 per cent on [...]
Record UK manufacturing slump continues but optimism grows July 23, 2020 The decline in UK manufacturing orders eased somewhat in July but the sector remained mired in its deepest downturn on record, according to a closely watched survey. The CBI industrial trends survey’s gauge of total orders rose to minus 46 in July from minus 58 in June. That was its highest reading since March but [...]
Budget 2021: What to expect from Rishi Sunak’s three-point plan tomorrow afternoon March 2, 2021 Rishi Sunak has hinted that he will extend a wide range of government support schemes in tomorrow’s Budget, as he again pledged to do “whatever it takes” to restore the British economy from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. It may be only Sunak’s second Budget as chancellor, but it comes after delivering almost a [...]
For the sake of our economy and our culture, we need to save London’s theatres July 3, 2020 Tomorrow, large parts of London’s economy will start to reopen. Pubs and restaurants will fling wide their doors, hotels will begin to welcome guests, and museums and art galleries will once more be open for business. But not all of London will be switching back into gear. Live performances are still banned, placing immense pressure [...]
Rishi Sunak to outline future of furlough scheme tomorrow May 11, 2020 The government will set out details about the future of the coronavirus job retention scheme tomorrow, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. The furlough scheme, which is paying 80 per cent of wages for more than 6m British workers, is currently due to run until the end of June. But chancellor Rishi Sunak has reassured [...]
Coronavirus lockdown: 1m firms warn of collapse if restrictions continue for three months May 11, 2020 More than 1m businesses have warned that they could not survive another three months of the coronavirus lockdown, after the prime minister last night announced some changes to the restrictions. More than 250,000 businesses said they will not be able to survive if trading conditions remain as they are for another month, according to the [...]
Government extends anti-eviction measures for businesses June 19, 2020 Commercial landlords will be unable to evict struggling companies until the end of September, after the government extended anti-eviction measures. The move comes as part of the government’s support package for companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension of the forfeiture of evictions will come as a relief in particular to pubs, cafes and [...]
Leicester lockdown: Pubs and restaurants may stay closed for two more weeks June 29, 2020 Leicester may be forced to extend restrictions on restaurants and pubs for a further two weeks due to a local coronavirus flare up, according to the city’s mayor. Sir Peter Soulsby said today that the government recommended that England’s current social distancing restrictions, due to be lifted on Saturday, are not lifted for the Midlands city. [...]
A menu of options to keep our restaurants alive June 4, 2020 You all know the image: a politician enjoying a pint or a meal at their local restaurant. There are handshakes all round and a picture is posted on Twitter. It is — rightly — a scene that shows MPs or councillors backing businesses, particularly the small and medium sized enterprises which make up the lifeblood [...]
Johnson is ‘asleep at the wheel’, says Labour’s Starmer June 29, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been too slow at making decisions during the coronavirus crisis, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said today. “I think the Prime Minister has been asleep at the wheel, he has been slow, the comms, the communications has been terrible,” Starmer told ITV. “It began to break down frankly when Dominic [...]