Covid-19: Travel quarantine restrictions to be relaxed in time for Christmas November 24, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has scrapped blanket travel quarantine restrictions in time for Christmas so that people can travel to high-risk "red list" countries to visit relatives.
Love rats: London’s rodent population booms as lockdown silences urban areas November 24, 2020 Quietened urban areas as a result of coronavirus restrictions have helped the population of rats boom by 30 million in one year
Rishi Sunak’s spending review: Three things to look out for November 24, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is no stranger to the House of Commons despatch box, having delivered numerous mini-budgets since March. But tomorrow he will lay out comprehensive spending plans for the 2021-22 financial year in one of his biggest announcements yet. Although it will not cover a three-year period, as originally planned, it will show the [...]
Royal Mail awarded contract to deliver and collect Covid-19 home testing kits November 24, 2020 Royal Mail has been awarded a new contract to deliver and collect coronavirus home testing kits seven days a week. The move comes as ministers prepare to ramp up testing capacity in the coming week, part of Boris Johnson’s ‘Operation Moonshot’ that was announced several months ago. Completed tests will be collected from 35,000 postboxes [...]
Hancock says vaccine roll-out could mean a return to normality by Easter November 24, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock hopes the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine would signal that life could go back to “normal” by Easter. Speaking today Hancock told a joint session of the Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee: “After Easter, we think we will be getting back to normal.” At a press [...]
UK retail sales fall in November but online shopping booms, survey shows November 24, 2020 Overall UK retail sales dropped in November but online shopping boomed as the England-wide lockdown forced customers to change their habits, a new survey has shown. The CBI’s monthly retail survey showed that sales fell in November year on year at a similar pace to the drop in October. The sales gauge came in at [...]
England’s 28 day lockdown will actually only last 27 days as restrictions lift next Wednesday November 24, 2020 England’s national lockdown will last one day shorter than expected, with restrictions set to lift at 0.01am next Wednesday. Announcing the nationwide measures last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the restrictions would last 28 days starting 4 November, as the government scrambled to curb a spike in infections across the country. However, the restrictions [...]
AO World swings to profit as working from home boosts revenue more than 50 per cent November 24, 2020 Online electricals retailer AO World swung to profit in the six months to September, as a surge in domestic appliance sales during the pandemic helped revenue rocket more than 50 per cent. The company, which sells washing machines, fridges, TVs and laptops, said sales in the six months to 30 September jumped 53.2 per cent [...]
Pets at Home remain dogged throughout pandemic as sales soar during lockdown November 24, 2020 Pets at Home has cemented itself as a rare winner during the pandemic, as the group notched double digit revenue growth in the six months to October following an “exceptional period of demand” during lockdown. The FTSE 250-listed firm thanked its allocation as an “essential” retailer during the coronavirus crisis for its 13 per cent [...]
UK economy to contract in November amid second Covid-19 lockdown November 24, 2020 The UK economy is set to suffer a significant contraction this month after Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a second national coronavirus lockdown. After six consecutive months of growth, the economy is expected to shrink 5.7 per cent in November, before recovering a marginal 0.3 per cent in December, according to analysis by PwC. The [...]