Friday newspaper round-up: Holiday scams, retailer rent, British Airways

Consumers are being warned about a sharp rise in coronavirus-related holiday scams, including a spate of fake caravan and motorhome listings targeting those planning a summer staycation. The warning from UK Finance, the banking industry body, comes three days after the government announced an easing of the lockdown rules in England aimed at helping to get the tourism sector back up and running. - Guardian

UK retailers stumped up just 14% of the £2.5bn quarterly rent bill due this week, as the high street crisis triggered by the lockdown reverberated through the property industry. The collapse in the rental take to a record low adds to the woes of Intu Properties, one of Britain’s largest shopping centre owners, which on Friday faces a deadline to convince lenders to grant a debt repayment holiday. If talks break down, the owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester says it could go into administration. – Guardian

British Airways has vowed not to cut the salaries of its 14,000 cabin crew by more than 20pc in an offer presented to unions as the airline seeks to slash costs after flights were grounded worldwide. The flag carrier is already planning to axe up to 12,000 staff - more than a quarter of its workforce - and change the terms and conditions for those who keep their jobs, prompting MPs on the Transport Select Committee to label it a “national disgrace”. – Telegraph

Up to 500,000 furloughed employees have returned to work in the past two weeks as the UK economy stutters back into life, official figures suggest. A survey of more than 5,000 companies by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 86pc are currently able to trade. Firms in this group had brought 7pc of their workforce back from the taxpayer-backed job retention scheme in the first half of June, up from 5pc in the previous fortnight. – Telegraph

The elderly could be in line for a state pension increase five times larger than the average pay rises given to people of working age over the next two years, an analysis has found. While average earnings may grow by only 1.5 per cent between this year and 2022, the state pension could be boosted by 7.6 per cent, the Resolution Foundation think tank has estimated. – The Times