Chancellor

UK GDP recovers 15.5% in Q3

The UK economy showed signs of recovery in Q3 as GDP grew a record 15.5% from July to September. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics ( ONS) come after the UK suffered its largest ever decrease in GDP of 20.4% in Q2. This means that despite the…

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Chancellor extends furlough scheme to March

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that the furlough scheme will be extended until the end of March, amid increased measures for business support as the UK enters a four-week lockdown. Payments are set to remain at 80% of employee’s wages. It comes as the chancellor said that it was “right…

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Sunak extends Covid scheme to pay up to half of wages

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced increases to the Job Support Scheme, which will now see the government pay up to half of employees wages. As part of the updated scheme, employers will pay less and employees will work fewer hours to qualify, with the taxpayer subsidy now doubled. The increase…

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Tesco criticised amid £315m six-month dividend

Tesco chairman John Allan said he will defend “to the death” the board’s decision to pay dividend after receiving a tax break. The comments, reported by the Mail on Sunday, came as it emerged that Tesco declared a £315m six-month dividend on Wednesday following a board meeting. Tesco reported an…

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Gov to cover 67% of wages for firms forced to shut

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that businesses forced to shut due to local restrictions will be eligible for a grant that pays two-thirds of staff salaries. The government will pay two-thirds, or 67%, of each employee’s salary, up to a maximum of £2,100 a month, if the business is forced…

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Thousands of ‘traditional’ retail jobs in danger, says Next boss

Next boss Simon Wolfson warned that thousands of “traditional” retail jobs are now in danger under the chancellor’s new “viability” focus. Speaking in an interview with BBC News’ business editor Simon Jack, Lord Wolfson said he did “not want to underestimate the difficulty” for “a lot of people who work…

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Chancellor unveils new Job Support Scheme

The chancellor has today announced a new Jobs Support Scheme that will see the government “directly support” the wages of those in part-time work. The scheme, which will run for six months starting this November, will see the government attempt to preserve “viable” jobs by subsidising the pay of employees…

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Chancellor set to unveil furlough replacement after Budget cancellation

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has cancelled this year’s Budget but is set to unveil new measures aimed at protecting employment and the UK economy in parliament later today (24 September). It is thought the new measures will replace the current furlough scheme, which is set to expire at the end of…

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Footfall decline eases amid ‘sluggish’ recovery

Footfall across the UK rose by 19% in June against the month prior, but was still down by 62.6% year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the BRC.  In the first two weeks of the month, footfall decline averaged 77.1%, but this improved to 53.3% in the remaining three weeks…

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Chancellor unveils new £9bn retention scheme

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a new scheme to pay companies £1,000 bonus per employee for those they keep on until January on part pay. Sunak said if employers bring back all nine million people who have been furloughed, this will be a “£9bn policy to retain people in work”.…

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