UK to trial using Covid-19 survivors’ blood plasma for treatment April 20, 2020 The United Kingdom is preparing to collect the blood from Covid-19 survivors to see if it can help create a treatment for the infection. British doctors will investigate if convalescent plasma transfusions could improve an infected patient’s speed of recovery and chances of survival. “NHS Blood and Transplant is preparing to collect Covid-19 convalescent plasma [...]
Future completes TI Media takeover as Covid-19 hits magazine sales April 20, 2020 Publishing group Future today said it had completed its takeover of rival TI Media but warned of job cuts as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on magazine sales. The competition watchdog last week cleared Future’s £140m offer for TI Media — which owns titles such as Country Life and Marie Claire UK — subject [...]
Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods boosts sales as shoppers stockpile sweet treats April 20, 2020 Shares in Premier Foods jumped almost 25 per cent in early trading today after the firm said it had experienced a sharp rise in demand during the coronavirus outbreak. The Mr Kipling maker said it expected sales to rise roughly 3.6 per cent year on year in the fourth quarter and 10.5 per cent in [...]
Coronavirus: London finance jobseekers surge by 43 per cent April 20, 2020 The number of London finance professionals seeking employment has surged over 40 per cent in the first three months of 2020 even as coronavirus hit salaries and vacancies, new data showed today. Jobseekers in the UK finance industry rocketed 43 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019, according to Morgan McKinley’s Spring London [...]
Coronavirus: Here comes the startup chancellor April 20, 2020 Startups are the economy’s ‘department for the future.’ Their job is to future-proof all the other sectors – from retail and banking through ecommerce to public services. They are vital to the UK’s post-Brexit, post-Covid-19 future. They are also among its most vulnerable. Look up ‘start-up’ in the Cambridge Dictionary and the first example of [...]
UK retail parks fare better in lockdown than high streets and shopping centres April 20, 2020 The number of shoppers visiting the UK’s retail destinations plunged by a record amount last month due to coronavirus, however a surge in supermarket demand helped to shield retail parks. UK retail footfall plummeted 44.7 per cent in March due to the mandatory lockdown which restricted movement and forced all non-essential stores to close. In [...]
Coronavirus hits hospitality: Loan scheme leaves restaurants high and dry April 19, 2020 Ranald MacDonald is Managing Director of Boisdale’s Restaurants In newspapers, so I’m told, a cracking story is known as a “marmalade dropper,” so named because it stops you – and indeed your toast – in your tracks. And that’s exactly what Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a £330bn rescue package for British business to get through [...]
The Long Read: The coronavirus loan scheme risks failing the people it was designed to help April 19, 2020 When the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, vowed that the government would do “whatever it takes” to keep businesses alive during the pandemic, the immediate reaction from corporate Britain was one of relief. The pledge to pay the wages of employees unable to work and the ambition behind the £350bn package of support (combining grants, sector-specific relief [...]
Insurers accused of not ‘sharing the pain’ with businesses during coronavirus pandemic April 19, 2020 Insurers have been accused of not “sharing the pain” of UK businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Research by insurance consultancy Mactavish found at least five commercial insurers have recently removed cover from their policies because of Coronavirus. Mactavish chief executive Bruce Hepburn said: “We have customers getting less cover and paying more for this, whilst [...]
Coronavirus: Debenhams and Arcadia in talks with landlords over store closures April 19, 2020 Major high street retailers including Debenhams and Topshop owner Arcadia are negotiating with landlords over whether stores will reopen after the coronavirus lockdown ends. All non-essential retailers were ordered to close when the government implemented restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus last month. However, some stores will not reopen when the lockdown is relaxed [...]