Press Round-Up Short (Premium)
Friday newspaper round-up: Working from home, tech giants, Hinkley Point
A slew of England’s biggest businesses are set to defy the government’s push to get workers back into offices in August, a Guardian analysis shows, with many big businesses sticking to home working arrangements or delaying a partial return until September at the earliest. Law firms, insurers, energy providers and tech firms are among those reacting cautiously to the change in government advice, which means from Saturday employers can decide whether staff can safely come back to offices.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Covid-19 rescue loan scheme, UK car production, Monsoon
The government is expanding its Covid-19 rescue loan scheme to cover small businesses on the edge of collapse, a move that Labour warned would come too late for many troubled firms. With less than a week before the furlough scheme covering 9 million employees is cut back, plunging more employers into debt, the Treasury said it would use a change in EU state aid rules to allow firms previously locked out of the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) to access government funds.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Ofgem, bank dividends, HSBC
The government should prepare to step in with targeted emergency support to help people and businesses that would be hardest hit by a second surge in coronavirus infections, a group of MPs has warned. Sounding the alarm over the uneven impact of the Covid-19 crisis, the commons business committee said there were major gaps in the financial support package rolled out by the government – especially for women and freelance and agency workers. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Unemployment benefits, stamp duty cut, restaurants, Boohoo
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits per job vacancy in Britain has increased fivefold since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an employment thinktank. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) said approximately eight people are claiming benefits support for every job opening, up from 1. 5 people per job before the crisis began in March. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Spain, UK economy, Rolls-Royce
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said the government will not apologise for its snap decision to order tourists returning from Spain to quarantine, saying further spread could risk another lockdown in the UK. Raab said the government had to take “swift, decisive action” when the data from Spain showed a surge in infections right across the country. Overnight, the UK imposed snap new restrictions on holidaymakers returning from Spain on Saturday night, meaning those who return must quarantine for two weeks.
Monday newspaper round-up: Economic recovery, airlines, Mastercard executive
Everyone over 40 would start contributing towards the cost of care in later life under radical plans being studied by ministers to finally end the crisis in social care, the Guardian can reveal. Under the plan over-40s would have to pay more in tax or national insurance, or be compelled to insure themselves against hefty bills for care when they are older. The money raised would then be used to pay for the help that frail elderly people need with washing, dressing and other activities if still at home, or to cover their stay in a care home.
Friday newspaper round-up: Sports Direct, consumer sentiment, supermarkets
Warehouse workers at Sports Direct, the retail chain controlled by the billionaire Mike Ashley, appear to be receiving pay below the national minimum wage, according to expert analysis of a new Guardian undercover investigation. The concerns have emerged almost five years after the Guardian first exposed how the retailer was breaching minimum wage law, which resulted in workers receiving about £1m in back pay and Ashley being hauled in front of a parliamentary select committee.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Culture sector, HSBC, Microsoft
The government’s response to the impact on the culture sector of the Covid-19 crisis has been too slow, too vague, and has jeopardised its future, according to a damning report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee. The MPs found that the government has consistently failed to recognise the size of the task facing the sector, and that its responses – including a £1. 57bn support package and a five-step roadmap for reopening – could have saved jobs and cultural institutions from closure if they had been released sooner and with more clarity.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: High streets, Tesco, business rates
Promises by government ministers to revitalise high streets with a new breed of shops should be abandoned in favour of turning town centres into residential hubs, creating at least 800,000 homes, according to a report that aims to influence a Downing Street review of planning laws. The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said the decline of the traditional high street could not be reversed by policies that “turn the clock back” to a time before online shopping, especially after the trend accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: EU rescue fund, RBS, Hermes, insurers
EU leaders have reached a historic agreement on a €750bn pandemic recovery fund and their long-term spending plans following days of acrimonious debate at what was the bloc’s longest summit in two decades. As the meeting reached its fifth day, the 27 exhausted heads of state and government finally gave their seal of approval to the EU jointly borrowing debt to be disbursed through grants on an unprecedented scale in the face of an economic downturn not seen since the Great Depression.
Monday newspaper round-up: Ted Baker, insurer Covid claims, UK councils
The fashion retailer Ted Baker is to axe at least 500 jobs – more than a quarter of its UK workforce – as the pandemic continues to batter the high street. It is understood that about 200 of the roles will go at the retailer’s London headquarters, the Ugly Brown Building, with the remainder from its shops – it has 46 in the UK and Europe – and store concessions. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Lockdown, Commercial property, Lloyds
Boris Johnson has effectively ruled out another nationwide lockdown, stating the option is now akin to a "nuclear deterrent". In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Johnson says he "certainly" does not want another blanket shutdown, "and nor do I think we will be in that position again". The intervention, which appears to put the Prime Minister at odds with his chief scientific adviser, comes after councils were given sweeping new powers to impose 'lightning' local lockdowns in the event of further Covid-19 outbreaks.
Friday newspaper round-up: Netflix, British Airways, Bellway
People have not embraced an easing of lockdown restrictions in England’s pub, bars and restaurants, according to figures that showed a drop in sales of about 40% among venues that opened their doors at the beginning of the month. Pubs that were open in the week beginning 6 July posted a 39% decline in sales compared with the same period last year, while bars were down 43% and restaurants down 40%. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Boohoo, retailers, Sainsburys
Boohoo has been criticised by the chair of an influential committee of MPs, who said the online fashion firm had failed to address warnings of malpractice at Leicester factories. Philip Dunne, the chairman of the environmental audit committee, which questioned Boohoo co-founder Carol Kane about problems in Leicester factories in November 2018 for a report on the fast fashion industry, has disputed claims the group was not aware of potentially illegal working practices at factories making its garments.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Stamp duty, big four accounting firms, US banks
The £3. 8bn stamp duty giveaway unveiled by chancellor Rishi Sunak last week has already sparked a mini property boom in the southern England commuter belt, according to the UK’s biggest property website, Rightmove. The data indicates that most of the benefit of the £3. 8bn giveaway will flow to Conservative-voting areas in the outer orbit of London. Rightmove named Milton Keynes, Watford and the north-west London borough of Harrow as the areas witnessing rises of more than 100% in buyer enquiries since the stamp duty announcement was made last Wednesday.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Nationwide, Covid debt, Heathrow
Rishi Sunak’s multibillion-pound economic response to Covid-19 has been criticised for lacking transparency by the incoming head of the Treasury’s independent tax and spending watchdog. Richard Hughes, the economist picked by the chancellor to lead the Office for Budget Responsibility, told MPs on the Commons Treasury committee that taxpayers lacked enough information to know whether the measures outlined by Sunak at last week’s summer statement would be cost effective.
Monday newspaper round-up: High street footfall, airport jobs, Itsu
A group of 84 of the world’s richest people have called on governments to permanently increase taxes on them and other members of the wealthy elite to help pay for the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The super-rich members, including Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and Disney heir Abigail Disney, called on “our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently”. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Freeports, UK equities, Trump
Taxes and red tape will be slashed in towns and cities across the country next year, under government plans for a post-Brexit and post-coronavirus economic revolution. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is preparing to introduce sweeping tax cuts and an overhaul of planning laws in up to 10 new "freeports" within a year of the UK becoming fully independent from the European Union in December, The Telegraph can reveal. - Sunday Telegraph.
Friday newspaper round-up: No-deal Brexit, City landlords, Hinkley Point
Pub and restaurant chains traded at half their pre-pandemic levels after reopening across England last weekend, as consumers proved to be wary of visiting their local or eating out. Among those pubs that did open, sales on 4 July and 5 July were 45% below pre-Covid levels, the analysis found. According to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker, which collates sales figures from 32 pub chains, about four out of 10 chain pubs began serving drinks again last weekend after being closed for nearly four months.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Jobs market, Uber Eats, Burger King, Brooks Brothers
The negative impact of the coronavirus lockdown on Britain’s jobs market appears to have been greatest in May before a partial recovery in June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Both demand for and supply of labour were affected by lockdown restrictions, and the temporary closure of non-essential businesses caused demand for labour to fall, leading to fewer job vacancies, the ONS found, by studying job advert data from the online job search engine Adzuna.