Monday newspaper round-up: Pre-Christmas slump, air passenger taxes, Frasers

Britain’s economy is set for a pre-Christmas slump with further job losses and shop closures, despite government measures to protect businesses during the latest Covid-19 restrictions. Surveys of business activity reveal a sharp decline as tough new restrictions were launched across the UK amid the second coronavirus wave, setting the stage for a difficult winter ahead as the economy plunges into reverse.- Guardian

The Guardian understands that small firms that successfully received a bounce back loan from non-bank lender Tide are struggling to secure further loans to cope with the second lockdown after the finance company ran out of funds in the summer. Unless Tide can secure fresh private investment or cheap funding for loans that are only available to licensed banks, it will remain closed to new business and the small firms affected must find alternative funding. If Tide fails to find new backers, attempts to secure a loan are likely to be fruitless as most accredited lenders have completely shut to new customers. - Guardian

Twenty-nine MPs and peers have written to Rishi Sunak to urge him to scrap air passenger taxes for a year or risk losing nearly half the air routes that could be otherwise saved and 8,000 jobs. In their letter to the Chancellor, exclusively revealed to The Telegraph, the 29 - nearly half of whom are Conservative including three former ministers - said that the move could encourage an extra 21 million passengers to travel once the UK came out of lockdown. - Telegraph

Mike Ashley’s Frasers has hit out at being “frozen out” of the auction for three Edinburgh Woollen Mill brands. A source close to Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, House of Fraser and Evans Cycles, said they expressed interest in Jaeger, Peacocks and Edinburgh Woollen Mill brands, part of Philip Day’s retail empire, which have been put up for sale. The Edinburgh Woollen Mill brand collapsed on Friday. - Telegraph

The world’s biggest credit ratings agency is importing an American service to Britain in a move that it says could increase the scores of millions of people and enable them to borrow money more cheaply. Experian is to launch a service in the UK through which personal borrowers can opt into a system that will allow it to take into account factors not used at present when assessing creditworthiness. - The Times

The City is preparing for a second wave of fundraisings as companies with fragile balance sheets look to tap shareholders before a relaxation of rules on pre-emption rights ends in three weeks. Britain’s listed businesses have raised billions from the stock market since the beginning of April, when they were temporarily allowed to target particular institutions and not approach all investors equally if they needed to access substantial amounts of capital quickly. - The Times