Author: LoveWorld UK

After 83 days of coronavirus lockdown, non-essential stores in England reopen their doors on Monday, hoping to get the tills ringing again and start a long road to recovery. The stores have been closed since March 23 when Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a lockdown to stem the spread of the virus. While outdoor markets and car showrooms reopened on June 1, Monday will be the big return to business for retailers. It only applies to England, with stores in Scotland and Wales waiting for guidance from their devolved administrations on when they can resume trading. Non-essential stores in Northern…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a cross-government commission would examine racism and the disparities experienced by minority ethnic groups in education, health and the criminal justice system following Black Lives Matter protests. Johnson said he could not ignore the strength of feeling shown by tens of thousands of people who had demonstrated in British cities following the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month. “What I really want to do as prime minister is change the narrative, so we stop the sense of victimisation and discrimination,” he said on Sunday. “We stop the discrimination, we stamp…

Global demand for premium foods like wagyu beef, bluefin tuna and caviar has plunged with thousands of restaurants shuttered and many economies sliding into recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. As strict lockdown measures to contain the outbreak ravage global economic activity, the luxury food industry could be among the worst hit since it heavily relies on restaurants and top hotels for demand for deluxe items from caviar to champagne. While some gourmet food producers are tapping consumers directly to stay afloat, others have been forced to cut output as some products have lost nearly half their value since the start…

Mothercare’s (MTC.L) Irish franchise owner placed its 14 baby products stores into liquidation on Friday, becoming one of the first major retail outlets in Ireland to blame the coronavirus lockdown for its demise. Mothercare Plc still operates around 1,000 overseas franchise stores following the collapse of its UK business, where it fell victim to stiff competition from online retailers and rising costs across the retail industry. Major UK retailers have a big presence on the high street in neighbouring Ireland, where an economy that has been the fastest growing in Europe for much of the last five years has shielded…

The United Kingdom has abandoned its plan to introduce full border checks with the European Union on Jan. 1 as British ministers face pressure from businesses not to increase chaos already caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the Financial Times newspaper reported on.ft.com/37k1mxW. Instead, Britain will introduce a temporary “light-touch regime” at ports such as Dover for incoming EU goods, the newspaper reported, adding that this will happen whether or not there is a Brexit free trade agreement with the EU. The newspaper said that officials have conceded, however, that goods flowing to the EU from the UK could face full checks…

British Airways, easyJet (EZJ.L) and Ryanair (RYA.I) have launched legal action against the UK government’s quarantine policy, asking for a judicial review to be heard as soon as possible. The airlines said earlier this week they would try to end the 14-day quarantine rule for international arrivals, which they say will deter travel and threaten more jobs just as the battered aviation industry was hoping for a recovery. Lawyers have said the government would have to show the scientific evidence that underpinned the need for a quarantine if judges allow a judicial review to go ahead. Britain’s chief scientist said…

Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20.4% in April from March as the country spent the month in a tight coronavirus lockdown, official data showed on Friday in what is likely to be the bottom of the crash before a long and slow recovery. In a slump that dwarfed previous downturns in Britain’s recent history, the Office for National Statistics also said the economy shrank by 24.5% compared with April last year. Both readings were below the already unprecedentedly weak forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. “Record GDP falls in today’s figures. When taking April and March together the…

British-based commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta’s global metals businesses said on Thursday it will cut costs and shed jobs due to a sharp slide in demand that could last up to 18 months. The GFG Alliance, a conglomerate with wide-ranging operations including steel, aluminium and infrastructure, said its business had been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. GFG, with 35,000 workers, needed to adjust to the new market environment so it would aim to cut costs by 30%, including an unspecified number of job cuts, it said in a statement. “Demand from steel-consuming sectors in certain regions has dropped by between…

British Airways will sell at least 10 works of art from its extensive collection, a source said, to try to raise millions of pounds to boost its cash reserves as it struggles through the coronavirus pandemic. The airline has come under fire from British politicians for plans to cut 12,000 jobs. But with planes grounded and no revenue, it says the job losses are necessary because travel demand is set to shrink in coming years. The BA collection includes works by Damien Hirst, Peter Doig and Bridget Riley, and selling off some of the works, which usually hang in executive…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday he would not be intimidated by “coercion” after China restricted some Australian exports and urged Chinese tourists and students to avoid Australia. Diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Canberra have worsened since Australia called for an international inquiry into the source and spread of the new coronavirus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Lobbying by Australia and the European Union prompted the World Health Assembly last month to back an independent review into the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, China’s Ministry of Education said students should reconsider choosing to study in Australia.…