Market Buzz
Thursday newspaper round-up: Property demand, Wahaca, UK car production
Demand for houses has soared since the lockdown ended, according to a report from Zoopla, with three- and four-bedroom houses with space to work from home particularly popular. Properties are selling far faster than before the pandemic struck, the report said, as buyers flooded back to the market. The amount of time a home is put up for sale before it finds a buyer has fallen to just 27 days since restrictions were eased, compared to 39 days over the same period in 2019.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Vodafone, Saga
The Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, has signalled to Michel Barnier, the EU’s frontman, that he will recommend Britain leaves without a trade deal unless Brussels drops demands the UK continue to align with its rules on state aid. Frost took a tough stance a week ago in private meetings with Barnier, which failed to advance the talks. Barnier then demanded to see the UK’s blueprint for its domestic subsidy regime after the transition, which is not likely to be published until the end of September.
Friday newspaper round-up: Eat out to Help Out, Pret a Manger, EDF, FRP
Britain’s economic recovery from Covid-19 gathered pace in the past month, fuelled by consumer spending and people taking advantage of the government’s “eat out to help out” scheme, despite fears mounting over rapid growth in unemployment. On the Guardian’s latest monthly tracker of economic news since the pandemic spread to Britain this spring, the release of pent-up demand with the easing of lockdown is driving the sharpest rebound in economic growth among the G7 advanced economies, while retail spending has returned to pre-crisis levels.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Carbon emissions, working from home, London Capital & Finance
A slump in UK consumer spending during the coronavirus lockdown has erased almost the same carbon emissions as produced by the city of Nottingham in a year, according to a new report. Carbon emissions from the UK’s main consumer industries tumbled by more than a quarter during the national coronavirus lockdown as people travelled less and cut down on clothes shopping. - Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Arcadia, Eurostar, McLaren, Lloyds
The owner of Topshop and Topman has been accused of potential breaching employment law by offering staff being made redundant less favourable terms for their notice periods, linked to the government’s furlough scheme. Sir Philip Green’s struggling Arcadia Group, which also owns Miss Selfridge, Evans, Wallis, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, is making up to 500 head office staff redundant after a slowdown in trade during the pandemic. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Travel industry, TikTok, FCA
The travel industry has said 39,000 people have already lost their jobs or been told their job was at risk, as the sector worst affected by the coronavirus crisis called on the government for more financial support to avoid further job losses. The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said the job cuts represent about 18% of the UK’s travel industry jobs and warned that thousands more tour operators, travel agents and airline jobs could be lost. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: BT Group, Easyjet, Facebook
Shareholders in BT were expecting a boost in the price of their stock after it was revealed that the firm is preparing to defend itself against a hostile bid. Britain's biggest telecoms group is at risk of being taken over because its value has slumped to just above £10billion – the lowest since the depths of the financial crisis. - Mail on Sunday.
Friday newspaper round-up: Nightclubs, Rolls-Royce, PWC
Nightclub owners have warned they face a looming “financial armageddon” that could put three quarters of a million people in the struggling night-time economy out of work within weeks. More than half of members of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) fear they will collapse within the next two months unless they receive increased government support to see them through the coronavirus crisis, according to a survey by the trade body. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Online grocery shopping, Qantas, British Gas
The number of consumers in the UK who do a weekly grocery shop online has doubled since the coronavirus lockdown, in a trend that is now “irreversible”, according to a supermarket report. One in four consumers now buy food and essentials at least once a week online, while more than three-quarters order at least some of their regular household goods from supermarket websites – up from 61% last year, the research from Waitrose reveals. - Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: National Grid, Frasers Group, Pizza Express
It was hoped at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that the economic fallout wouldn’t last too long. But as summer hurtles towards autumn, the catastrophic scale and persistence of the crisis is becoming increasingly clear. Germany extending its furlough wage subsidy scheme from 12 to 24 months is a decision being taken against this backdrop. The longer the economic damage lasts, the more help Berlin estimates its economy will require to weather the storm. Unemployment around the world is climbing, with a steady drumbeat of job cuts announced by big-name companies with every passing week.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Rail fares, Hargreaves Lansdown, TikTok
Rail fares must be cut to entice travellers back on to trains after Covid-19, according to the passenger watchdog, which has urged the UK government to subsidise similar money-saving deals to those for the restaurant sector. Transport Focus said a radical shake up of the fares system should go beyond a fares freeze to include cut-price deals and flexible season tickets for people who may in future only be commuting part-time. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: JD Wetherspoon, housing market, Debenhams
Fears that relaxed summer socialising will lead to a surge in Covid-19 cases around the UK have been heightened after concerns that JD Wetherspoon is failing to prevent overcrowding in pubs in its 900-strong chain. Concerns about poor social distancing by customers in Wetherspoon pubs followed a surge in visitors during recent hot weather and after the publication of A-level results last Thursday. Customers in a south London pub run by the company said they had not been asked to provide personal details, including mobile phone numbers that can be used in the government’s track and trace system.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Frasers Group, Belarus
Tesco is to introduce free home delivery to members of its premium loyalty scheme, pitching it head to head with Amazon as the US tech firm seeks a bigger slice of the UK’s near-£200bn food and drink retail market. The UK’s largest supermarket charges a basic £4. 50 for a delivery slot, but its chief executive, Dave Lewis, says it hopes to scrap the fees for the millions of shoppers who have signed up to Clubcard Plus. - Guardian.
Friday newspaper round-up: England easing, New Look, Apple
Theatres, softplay centres and music venues are to be given the green light to reopen from Saturday, Boris Johnson will announce, as he brings in new or bigger fines for illegal raves and a refusal to wear face masks in England. People who repeatedly ignore the rules on face coverings in shops and on transport could be fined up to £3,200, and new powers will be introduced to penalise the organisers of mass gatherings including raves, the prime minister will announce.
Thursday newspaper round-up: National Grid, BP, working from home
National Grid has fired up a coal-fired power station for the first time in 55 days after Britain’s record-breaking heatwave brought wind turbines to a near-standstill and caused gas-fired power stations to struggle. The electricity system operator brought Britain’s latest coal-free streak to an end by calling for the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire to begin generating electricity before a peak in electricity demand. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Serco, Amazon, British Airways
The government has been urged to demonstrate there was no favouritism at play in awarding Serco a contact-tracing contract worth £108m, as a leaked memo revealed the outsourcing firm was enlisted to help with the Covid-19 response as early as January. Serco is facing growing calls to be axed from any future involvement in contact-tracing services amid concerns over the performance of private firms contracted to trace people who have mixed with infected individuals.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Bank transfer scams, high streets, NMC Health
Many victims of bank transfer scams are being treated unfairly and the chances of them getting their money back is often a lottery, according to Which?. The UK consumer association is pressing for the voluntary code that is supposed to protect consumers to be made mandatory, and said the number of people being reimbursed by their bank was “woefully low”. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Travel industry, Twitter, AA
The travel industry has urged the government to rethink its 14-day quarantine policy for holidaymakers as rising coronavirus cases on the continent – including France and Greece – put more countries within the scope of the blunt approach. Testing at airports and regional quarantine requirements are among alternatives put forward by tourism figures concerned by the impact the policy could have on an already battered sector. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: NatWest, Rolls Royce, Coronavirus
NatWest is to push out several top bankers as part of a dramatic overhaul of its investment bank, as new boss Alison Rose attempts to cut ties with its past. The lender formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, 62%-owned by taxpayers, is expected to tell staff this week that at least three of its most senior investment bankers will stand down. - Sunday Times.
Friday newspaper round-up: France quarantine, Fulham Shore, NHS, News Corp, Travelex, TikTok
British tourists planning to visit France are being warned that they may have to quarantine on their return amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus there. Holidaymakers should only book trips that can be easily rearranged at 24 hours’ notice, a senior aviation source said last night, adding that France was “bubbling” with cases. - The Times.