Friday newspaper round-up: Amazon, second lockdown, Grant Thornton

The government will close the furlough scheme this weekend, with redundancies rising at the fastest rate on record and the second wave of Covid-19 pushing Britain’s economy to the brink of a double-dip recession, according to a Guardian analysis. As the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, prepares to end the multibillion-pound coronavirus job retention scheme and launch a less generous replacement programme, early warning indicators show business activity faltering as local lockdowns take effect. The number of people losing their jobs is rising much faster than during the 2008 financial crisis, while the economic fightback from the March lockdown is gradually fading. - Guardian

Amazon reported blowout third-quarter results on Thursday as a pandemic sales boost helped the company triple its profits amid a 37% increase in earnings. The company’s revenues of $96.15bn were better than analysts expected and its net income increased to $6.3bn in the third quarter, compared with net income of $2.1bn in third quarter 2019. Its cloud-services unit, Amazon Web Services, reported net sales of $11.6bn for the quarter, up 29% year over year.- Guardian

A second lockdown could destroy what remains of Britain's battered high street, struggling retail, hospitality and travel bosses have warned. Businesses urged the Government not to follow France and Germany back into nationwide restrictions and mass closures, saying hundreds of millions of pounds have now been spent on making premises Covid-secure and keeping customers safe.- Telegraph

Five out of six major public sector audits by Grant Thornton were not up to scratch last year, according to a leaked review by the accounting regulator seen by The Telegraph. The firm was singled out by the Financial Reporting Council watchdog (FRC) after it probed 15 major audits of health authorities, and councils carried out by the industry's seven biggest players - and found 60pc of these fell short of the standard expected. - Telegraph

One of Britain’s biggest employers has committed to retaining all of its office space even as a rise in coronavirus cases makes staff prepare for months of working from home. PWC, the accountant, which employs 22,000 people in Britain, said that it had no intention of downsizing its offices, which it believes offer workers the opportunity to collaborate, learn and innovate in ways they cannot achieve from home. - The Times