Bank of England set to reload bond-buying programme with £100bn June 10, 2020 The Bank of England is expected to announce a further £100bn for its bond-buying programme when it meets next week in order to limit the damage to the UK economy by the coronavirus crisis. The central bank has already spent the majority of the record £200bn expansion to its asset purchase programme which it made [...]
British Business Bank appoints new interim chief executive June 10, 2020 The British Business Bank has announced the appointment of Catherine Lewis La Torre as its interim chief executive. Lewis La Torre will take over from current boss Keith Morgan on 1 September, the lender said. She is currently chief executive of the bank’s two commercial subsidiaries, British Patient Capital and British Business Investments, which she [...]
UK lockdown: Zoos and drive-in cinemas could reopen from 15 June June 10, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is today expected to outline which sectors of the UK economy will reopen after lockdown on 15 June, such as zoos and drive-in cinemas. The UK is slowly reopening its economy after it entered lockdown on 23 March, leading to the widespread closure of restaurants, pubs, gyms, cafes and most shops [...]
Retailers get ready to reopen – but shoppers may be too scared to visit June 10, 2020 Shops across the country may be preparing to finally reopen their doors next week, but fears are growing that the British public will be too anxious to actually visit them after spending months under coronavirus lockdown. Those concerns have today been laid bare in a survey of more than 1,000 consumers, which suggested many people [...]
Coronavirus: UK economy set for ‘most severe downturn in modern times’ June 10, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has dragged the UK into the “most severe economic downturn in modern times” with the economy set to contract over seven per cent this year, new forecasts suggest. The UK economy is expected to shrink 7.2 per cent in 2020 and is unlikely to fully recover from the impact of Covid-19 until [...]
UK tourism group says air bridges will be set up by 29 June June 9, 2020 A tourism lobby group has said that air bridges to other countries will be operating by 29 June, saying it had received assurances on the matter by senior government officials. In a statement, Quash Quarantine, a 500-strong group of travel and hospitality firms, said that it was considering options including joining British Airways’ legal challenge [...]
Coronavirus business loan borrowing nears £35bn but CBILS approval rate languishes June 9, 2020 British businesses have borrowed almost £35bn under the government’s three emergency coronavirus credit programmes, but the approval rate for coronavirus business interruption loans (CBILS) remains just over 50 per cent. The bounce back loan scheme, which supports small businesses with 100 per cent state-backed loans, continued to see the strongest demand, according to new figures [...]
Number of workers on UK furlough scheme nears 9m June 9, 2020 Almost 9m workers in the UK have been furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic at a cost of £19.6bn, according to new figures from the Treasury. As of 7 June, 8.9m jobs were being supported by the government under its coronavirus job retention scheme, an increase of 200,000 on the week before. Businesses have now [...]
Retailers suffer ‘another month of struggle’ in May amid coronavirus lockdown June 9, 2020 Retailers endured a second consecutive monthly drop in sales in May, as the high street continued to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus lockdown. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales fell 5.9 per cent last month compared to May 2019. The monthly health check found record growth in online sales, as retailers continued [...]
UK coronavirus deaths near 52,000, tally of official data shows June 9, 2020 UK coronavirus deaths have broken past yet another milestone to hit 51,766, according to a tally of official sources put together by Reuters. Coronavirus deaths in England and Wales hit 45,748 up to 29 May, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released today. Coupled with Northern Ireland data up to 29 May, and [...]