Coronavirus: Cabinet ministers ‘push to cut two metre social distancing rule’ June 9, 2020 A majority of Boris Johnson’s cabinet ministers are said to be putting pressure on Downing Street to relax the two-metre social distancing rule to contain coronavirus. The Prime Minister, who will chair a cabinet meeting today, is thought to be sympathetic to calls to dispense with the two-metre rule, amid a clamour from the hospitality [...]
Time for a staycation? Mortgage payment holidays explained March 26, 2020 As part of its plan to reduce the economic damage done by staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak, the government has granted a holiday on what is many people’s biggest outlay: mortgage payments. For three months, those who are paying off their mortgage will get a temporary break from their monthly payments, one of [...]
The Coronavirus Bill: Everything you need to know March 25, 2020 As Britain continues to ramp up its response to the coronavirus outbreak, MPs have voted through a bill that gives the government new powers to tackle the crisis. The Coronavirus Bill, expected to become law this week, has the potential to bring in sweeping changes to our daily lives in a bid to curb the [...]
Adbreaks during an outbreak: How to advertise during coronavirus lockdown March 23, 2020 After a week in which the coronavirus outbreak has turned life on its head for everyone in the UK, companies are having to learn quickly about how best to operate over the coming months. Some, like toilet roll manufacturers, find themselves in prime position to both help society and make huge steps forward commercially from [...]
Investment and coronavirus: Keep calm and don’t cash out March 18, 2020 Coronavirus has sent stocks plunging like few other events in the history of financial markets. The FTSE 100 has dropped by a third in the last month. Other indices such as the S&P 500, Japan’s Nikkei, and Germany’s Dax are all in roughly similar positions. Not only are people concerned for their health, but their [...]
Coronavirus and football: What happens if the Premier League is cancelled? March 14, 2020 As Liverpool’s footballers emerged from the dugout at Anfield on Wednesday evening, fans stretched their hands down towards them from the flanking stands in search of a high five. Most players ignored them. Sadio Mane, Liverpool’s second highest goalscorer of the season and African player of the year, reached up to grant one supporter his [...]
Entrepreneurs’ relief: A tax break unravels? March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s first Budget beckons, and business founders will be looking out for one announcement in particular: will he scrap entrepreneurs’ relief? The controversial tax break enables people who start their own successful businesses to pay less capital gains tax when they eventually sell it on. It was originally intended to encourage people to [...]
Flybe’s last flight: How Europe’s biggest regional airline met its demise March 9, 2020 At 8.30pm on Wednesday evening, passengers were still being ushered onto planes bearing the indigo livery of Flybe. Half an hour later, members of the cabin crew on one of its last ever flights, from Manchester to Belfast, were crying, having just lost their jobs. “Staff in tears. This is so grim,” tweeted Holly Hamilton, [...]
Women on top: Ex-JP Morgan star Tracey Reddings on how she beat the system March 5, 2020 When you have to work hard for something as opposed to being given it, it means more,” says Tracey Reddings, the former head of JP Morgan’s private banking arm in Britain. She should know. After a glittering career in which she rose from the customer service counter at Barclays bank at age 16 to the [...]
No fly zone: As coronavirus fears grow, airlines must brace for the worst March 3, 2020 One of last month’s more outlandish news stories was the report that the coronavirus outbreak had caused an upsurge in private jet inquiries. More wealthy travellers than ever, it seems, are willing to pay thousands of pounds an hour for a plane unto themselves, in an attempt to dodge the risk of getting infected. The [...]