Boris Johnson

BT’s boss catches it, markets rebounding, pain medication prices spike

Today I am going to rattle through a wider selection of stories than normal because the spread of the virus is hitting so many sectors hard, with key figures in the business community affected. The markets are recovering some of their losses this morning after having their worst selloff since…

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Coronavirus is stepping up a gear – this could be serious

When I started this column back in December I did not anticipate a single subject would dominate it so much, but as I wrote last week it would be silly not to address the latest coronavirus circumstances given that each new development so far has had a profound impact on…

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Entrepreneurs relief may be scrapped by Sunak

The new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, may scrap entrepreneur’s relief to raise £3bn a year as a means to bring in some extra dosh for the Treasury. Sunak will undoubtedly be looking for ways to raise extra revenue given the government’s infrastructure spending plans as it seeks to make a visible…

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Heathrow’s third runway will not be taking off after all

Heathrow’s third runway has been ruled illegal by the court of appeal, because the government did not properly consider its own climate change pledges in line with the Paris Agreement when drawing up its plans. The court is actually on the same street as our offices here at Mulberry Media…

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Chlorinated chicken ain’t the way

The European Union will insist that the UK retains the current ban on chlorinated chicken as part of any free trade agreement that might be struck by the end of this year. It taps into one of the most symbolic arguments made during the last three years by those who…

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HSBC to cut 35,000 jobs, new chancellor sticks to schedule, Bezos creates $10bn ‘Earth fund’

HSBC has announced plans to cut 35,000 jobs over the next three years after a dire set of financial results. Profits have fallen by 33% year on year and that is before the impact of the coronavirus can even be fully measured in Q1 and the months to come. The…

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German stagnation, Javid out, RBS gets environmental, Norton no-show

The German economy has stagnated due to significant falls in spending and exports. New figures show that GDP ‘flat lined’ (financial jargon for neither growing nor contracting) in the final quarter of 2019, bad news since economists and analysts had hoped that it would grow about 0.1%. It means Germany’s…

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Yes, the trade barriers are coming

I think both Leavers and Remainers probably expected this in the long run – Michael Gove announced yesterday that businesses should “accept” that frictionless trade with the EU will be impossible whatever agreement is finally reached by the deadline of 31 December this year. This is the cost, he says,…

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What’s Nissan driving at with Brexit plans?

Now that the technical aspect of leaving the EU has happened on paper, we are into the implementation period, but the negotiations will soon get going once again. The pound fell today as in a speech which actually overlapped Michel Barnier’s opening salvo with competing coverage, Boris Johnson reiterated his…

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British Airways gets flighty and Starbucks smells the coffee over coronavirus

The business response to the coronavirus situation, which appears to be developing into a serious crisis, continues apace today. British Airways today announced that it was suspending all flights between the UK and Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originally broke out. In a statement it said: “We have…

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