COVID-19 Business News

Contactless payment with smartphone

Contactless ‘in-touch with wary consumers’ — cash ‘faring poorly’

CONTACTLESS spending could soon account for 47 percent of all transactions, according to research carried out by the Centre of Retail Research (CRR). It examined...
Pott'd founders Frankie and Sascha

A founder’s story, and some Pott’d history

Lockdown was indisputably dull, but as FRANKIE THOROGOOD recounts, the boredom led to an exciting business idea... THE INSPIRATION for Pott’d came during a Groundhog...
Business closed

UK firms on cliff edge as crisis continues, distress tracker reveals

MORE than a half-a-million UK businesses are facing a high risk of insolvency, and 250,000 may not survive another month without a change to...
Oil tanker at sea, platform in background

Oil price hits negative territory, Virgin ailing, firms need wage aid

CORONAVIRUS infections are dropping in many countries, but corporate and financial impacts are increasingly being felt. Virgin Australia is going into administration, the US oil...
Tesco Colney Hatch by Michelle Davies

A crazed new world: coronavirus, paranoia, and Zombie Apocalypse shopping tips

By Hal Williams YOU WALK into the supermarket, intending to just pick up a few things, and wha…. ? The place is swarming. Shelves are...
Hands, calculator, paperwork

Bid to ease virus impacts on cash flow ‘flawed’ — CEO

THE UK government’s proposed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CIBLS) is coming in for some criticism. HM Treasury and the Bank of England last week...
Female speaker, training class, skills gap

Staffing association calls on UK government to address skills gap

LABOUR market data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics have elicited a welcome — and a caution — from the Association of Professional...
EU flag coronavirus graphic

Fresh EU coronavirus recovery package has detractors up north

EU HEADS have agreed to set up a €540bn post-pandemic recovery fund, tied to the EU’s seven-year budget. European Council president Charles Michel, who chaired...
Rishi Sunak, UK Chancellor

Second helping of aid for the UK’s self-employed

SELF-EMPLOYED people whose income has been hit by coronavirus can apply for a second support grant from the UK government. The first was launched in...
UN SDG10 Reduced Inequalities

SDG10: Finding equality in an unequal world is never easy

The UN’s sustainable development goal SDG10 — to reduce inequality within and among countries — is a particular challenge, as BV’s JASON AGNEW reports SDG10:...