Amigo warns of ‘material’ hit from new wave of complaints June 22, 2020 Amigo has warned of a “substantial increase” in complaints pouring in after reaching a £35m deal with the financial regulator to clear a backlog of thousands of customer issues up to June. The loans provider has set aside £35m to deal with around 9,000 complaints received in 2020 under a deal with the Financial Conduct [...]
UK borrowing surges to a record £103.7bn in lockdown June 19, 2020 UK borrowing exploded to £103.7bn over April and May’s lockdown, official data showed today, as debt exceeded 100 per cent as a percentage of GDP in May for the first time in 57 years. The current financial year to date – April to May 2020 – has already seen borrowing rocket to £103.7bn. That is [...]
Open banking: UK banks could pay to access central hub of Brits’ financial data June 18, 2020 British banks would pay for access to a central open banking resource under proposed next steps to introduce the concept in the UK, an industry body said today. Open banking functions to let people share their spending habits, regular payments and payees with other banks would move into a separate service company, under next steps [...]
Lloyd’s of London and Greene King apologise for slavery links June 18, 2020 Lloyd’s of London insurance market has issued an apology for its role in the 18th and 19th century transatlantic slave trade, calling it “an appalling and shameful” era. The insurer will fund charities and organisations created to promote opportunities for black and ethnic minority groups. Pub chain Greene King also formally apologised, and committed to [...]
Boris Johnson’s car involved in minor collision outside parliament June 17, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s convoy was involved in a minor collision outside the Houses of Parliament today following Prime Minister’s Questions. One of the cars in the convoy was forced to suddenly brake by a protester, meaning the vehicle behind shunted the back of the lead car. The BBC reported that a dent was visible [...]
Boohoo buys Oasis and Warehouse as revenue rockets in lockdown June 17, 2020 Boohoo beat revenue expectations despite other retailers’ lockdown pain today as it confirmed a cut-price purchase of Oasis and Warehouse’s online divisions. The digital fashion retailer has thrived in lockdown, seeing revenue jump 45 per cent to £367.8m in the three months to May. And it also confirmed a £5.25m purchase of the online businesses [...]
England and Wales coronavirus death toll nears 50,000 June 16, 2020 Coronavirus deaths in England and Wales have hit 47,387 since the start of the year until 5 June, official data confirmed today. That contrasts with official government data yesterday that puts the overall UK death toll from coronavirus at 41,736. While England’s coronavirus death toll stood at 45,432 according to the Office for National Statistics [...]
Cineworld to reopen UK cinemas with social distancing measures on 10 July June 16, 2020 Cinema chain Cineworld today revealed it will reopen UK cinemas from 10 July as it hopes blockbuster releases including Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Disney’s live action Mulan will attract wary punters to its screens. Cineworld’s UK cinemas will reopen after more than three months of lockdown after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all non-essential British [...]
Bunzl shares rise as demand for cleaning kit spikes amid pandemic June 15, 2020 Bunzl’s share price rose considerably in early trading today as it revealed half-year revenue is set to rise despite the pandemic. The FTSE 100 outsourcer said it expects revenue to the end of June to climb around six per cent despite the impact of coronavirus. That sent shares up six per cent to 1,997p. Hailing [...]
Astrazeneca to supply Europe with 400m doses of Oxford coronavirus vaccine June 15, 2020 Astrazeneca has committed to supply Europe with 400m doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine before the end of 2020. The drugmaker has partnered with the University of Oxford to develop the possible Covid-19 vaccine, and will begin delivering it to Europe after reaching an agreement with Europe’s Inclusive Vaccines Alliance (IVA). The IVA has said [...]