Coronavirus: Boris Johnson to stay in self-isolation with high temperature April 3, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will remain in self-isolation after continuing to exhibit coronavirus symptoms first diagnosed last week. “Although I feel better and I’ve done my seven days of self-isolation, alas I still have one of the symptoms, a minor symptom. I still have a temperature,” Johnson said in a Twitter video. [...]
Coronavirus: The tipping point for company communications? April 3, 2020 We are living through ‘unprecedented’ times. Everyone agrees that Covid-19 will change the world forever – and in myriad ways. ‘Unprecedented’ is used almost constantly. But can it be said that how companies communicate with their investors specifically, and the financial market in general, has changed in ‘unprecedented’ ways too? The answer, thus far, is [...]
UK to open two more Nightingale hospitals to deal with coronavirus cases April 3, 2020 The UK will open two more Nightingale hospitals to handle the rising number of coronavirus cases, as the first opened at London’s Excel Centre today. The new Nightingale hospitals in Bristol and Harrogate will provide 1,500 extra beds for patients afflicted by coronavirus. So far the outbreak has killed 2,921 people in the UK. The [...]
Nationwide U-turns on business banking debut over coronavirus April 3, 2020 Nationwide has abandoned plans to enter the business banking market, blaming coronavirus for making it commercially unviable. The building society will return a £50m grant from a pool of RBS cash to foster competititon among British banks as it scales back ambitions in the face of the outbreak. “The impact of Covid19, including assumption changes [...]
Woman wrongly charged under new coronavirus legislation April 3, 2020 British Transport Police has admitted wrongly charging a woman who was fined under new coronavirus legislation. Following a joint review with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the British Transport Police (BTP) said Marie Dinou had been charged under the incorrect section of the Coronavirus Act. She had been fined £660 by magistrates for breaching coronavirus [...]
COVID-19: What practical measures can businesses take to keep operating? April 3, 2020 | City Talk EY’s latest COVID-19 webcast focused on the pressing challenge of business continuity, asking what measures companies can practically take to keep operating in these extraordinary circumstances. Clearly, businesses are dealing with very different and evolving sets of challenges – from companies experiencing massively increased sales, to those battling sudden falls in demand and businesses who [...]
Coronavirus: Sainsbury’s to ease stockpiling restrictions on products April 3, 2020 Sainsbury’s will begin removing coronavirus stockpiling restrictions from its supermarket goods from this Sunday, it said today. The supermarket said a combination of more supply and panic buying measures means there is finally more stock on the shelves, prompting it to ease stockpiling measures. Restrictions are no longer in place on Easter eggs. However, buying [...]
UK consumer confidence plunges after deepest quarterly decline on record April 3, 2020 UK consumer confidence in the first quarter of the year fell nine percentage points as the coronavirus pandemic hit home. Confidence in job security fell 15 percentage points from the previous quarter to -20, Deloitte’s consumer tracker showed. Sentiment in the state of the economy fell to -71, with consumers signposting a further three percentage [...]
UK retail sales: Coronavirus triggers worst month on record April 3, 2020 UK retail sales plummeted to the worst levels on record in March as footfall plunged and non-essential stores were forced to close amid the coronavirus pandemic. Like-for-like UK retail sales at physical stores fell by a record 34.1 per cent and total like-for-like sales, both in-store and online combined, fell 17.9 per cent. Lifestyle and [...]
Chancellor shakes up coronavirus loan scheme after criticism of banks April 2, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak said tonight that he is extending a coronavirus loan scheme for small businesses and introducing a new loan scheme for businesses with revenue up to £500m. The Treasury also said it would ban lenders from requesting personal guarantees for loans under £250,000. And Sunak pledged “operational changes” to speed up lending approvals. [...]