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The Labour Party and business groups have voiced concern at the “ripple effect” of Covid shutdowns that are expected to be announced on Monday.On Friday, the chancellor said staff at UK companies told to close would get 67% of their wages from the government under the expanded Job Support Scheme.But no specific help was announced for workers who may be indirectly affected – for example, those in supply chains.The Treasury denied firms that are not fully closed would not receive help.Labour claims close to one million workers will be at risk, including 500,000 people in the wedding industry, 369,000 in the sports industry, and 142,000 event caterers.Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said: “There are massive holes in the new safety net.”A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “We do not recognise these figures,” adding that Labour had “incorrectly” listed some sectors as not benefitting from the scheme.The spokesperson added: “Companies that are open can use the other element of the Job Support Scheme which is aimed at those able to open but at lower levels of demand. “And of course they can also access the other help we have made available, including billions of pounds of grants, loans and tax cuts.”
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The Job Support Scheme was announced by Mr Sunak on 24 September and will replace the “furlough” scheme from 1 November for six months.It “tops up” the wages of employees who can’t work their normal hours.The expanded scheme, announced on Friday and available to firms ordered to shut down, will provide two-thirds of wages to employees unable to work.On Monday, Boris Johnson is expected to announce a tiered system of measures for England in an effort to stall rising infection rates.Under the new system, different parts of the country would be placed in one of three categories.The worst-affected areas – which may include much of northern England – could see its pubs and restaurants closed.Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband claimed the government had been “forced into a climbdown” over supporting shut-down businesses.But he said businesses including weddings, theatres, cinemas, events, and many suppliers would be left out “on a technicality” because they have been “forced to shut in all but name”, he said. Mr Miliband added: “Ministers must urgently rethink their damaging sink or swim approach which consigns whole sectors of our economy to the scrapheap.” Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors said the new measures set out by the chancellor on Friday were a “useful step” towards supporting businesses affected by the lockdown.But he said their impact would be limited because they “don’t account for the ripple effects of restrictions across the economy”. He added: “It is becoming increasingly clear that the chancellor’s previous strategy of phasing out business support and allowing supposedly ‘unviable’ companies to fail was premature in the face of a resurgent virus. “Friday’s measures should be seen as the start of renewed efforts to sustain the survival of companies and jobs if long-term damage to the economy is to be prevented.”Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce, also said the new support did not go far enough to protect firms in supply chains and town and city centres and urged: “Their cash flow concerns and worries about future demand must be heeded.”

Two billionaire brothers from Blackburn have been awarded royal honours a week after clinching a £6.8bn deal to buy the Asda supermarket chain from Walmart.Mohsin and Zuber Issa were among a number of business bosses on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.GlaxoSmithkline chief executive Emma Walmsley was also honoured.The drugs firm is one of about 20 that is part of a global race to develop a coronavirus vaccine.The billionaire Issa brothers started their business 20 years ago with one rented petrol station and grew it into a network of nearly 6,000 forecourts across 10 countries.It was announced last week that the Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital would take a majority stake in Asda.Walmart said that, under the new owners, Asda will invest £1bn in the supermarket over the next three years.Drugs raceA number of honours were awarded to people for their work during the coronavirus pandemic, including Ms Walmsley.She was given a damehood for services to the pharmaceutical industry and business after leading the UK’s biggest drugs manufacturer for the past three years.GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) is part of the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine, and said last week it had started clinical trials with fellow drugs firm Sanofi.As chief executive, Ms Walmsley has been instrumental in the company’s involvement in international efforts to develop a vaccine.Property tycoon Tony Gallagher was given a knighthood in relation to his service to “land development and the property business”.The Gallagher Estates founder is a friend of former Prime Minister David Cameron and a major donor to the Conservative party.Andrew Mackenzie, the former chief executive officer of mining giant BHP Billiton, was made a Knight Bachelor for services to business, science, technology and to UK and Australia relations.Clare Woodman the chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley International was given a CBE for services to finance.Fashion entrepreneur Sir Paul Smith was also recognised on the annual list, being named as a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour.There were also honours for a number of utilities bosses.Richard Flint, who recently retired as Yorkshire Water’s chief, Olivia Garfield, chief executive at Severn Trent, and Chris Jones, who stepped down as chief of Welsh Water last year, all become CBEs.

Surveys continue to show that black, Asian, or minority ethnic (BAME) people are under-represented in senior positions.

“When I went to university, we were three girls out of 120 students studying mechanical engineering,” says Dr Astrid Fontaine. “Who do you have in a company that’s engineering driven? It’s people who have studied science, technology, maths, engineering – and these were subjects in the past that mainly boys tended to study.”Dr Fontaine is a board member at Bentley, the Volkswagen-owned British luxury carmaker. She is trying to explain to me why senior female executives like her are still a relative rarity in the car industry, even though women make up an increasingly large proportion of the market – and in the UK alone own some 35% of the cars on the road. She is also setting out why she thinks the crisis in the industry sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic may prove to be a catalyst for the creation of a more diverse workforce.Covid impactDuring her 25-year career, Dr Fontaine has spent time at Daimler and Porsche, as well as in academia in China and the United States. The executive appointments firm Inclusive Boards ranks her as one of the 100 most influential women in the engineering sector. Now at Bentley, as board member in charge of “People, Digitalisation and IT”, she finds herself overseeing attempts to build a more inclusive workforce. Last year, there were signs of progress: the company took on 93 trainees, of whom 31 were female – a record for the business. But that was before the pandemic took hold.Like other carmakers, Bentley was badly affected by the lockdown, which forced it to shut its factory in Crewe for seven weeks, and send staff home. It later brought forward plans to lay off 1,000 employees, or roughly a quarter of its workforce.Yet Dr Fontaine insists that the cuts – involving large numbers of voluntary redundancies – will not actually hamper long-term efforts to improve diversity. Indeed, she thinks the changes in working patterns forced on companies by the crisis could reap significant benefits.”I think what we’re seeing here is a change in generations. I think it’s rather an opportunity now to look forward,” she says.”This opportunity to work remotely, collaborating on digital platforms – it removes any kind of barriers regarding where you are located; it removes the barriers created when, for example, you have to look after children or your family.”You can be working from home, while doing that as well – so your multi-tasking opportunities and flexibility increase tenfold. And I think that’s why the environment will be so much more diverse!”The talent that women bring… in the past maybe they were not willing to bring it forward because they had too many other things to care for.”All this comes at a time when, according to Dr Fontaine, the industry as a whole is already changing in ways that will appeal to a broader workforce.”In the past it was driven very much by mechanical engineering and design,” she explains.”But now the industry is fully into the topic of electrification and digitalisation.”So, you need system developers, skills in social media… and in this world of new skills we are looking for, we find a much broader pool of female candidates.”Bias awarenessGiven the challenges faced by other senior women in male-dominated industries, it’s perhaps surprising that when asked about her own career, Dr Fontaine has few complaints about obstacles being put in her way.”Maybe I was simply lucky,” she says. “I found the opposite – there were people that were helping me, that were mentoring, that were giving advice, that were giving honest feedback. I found people were supportive.”But she agrees that there is a mindset within the industry that needs to change.”We need to create awareness about unconscious bias – where people have, probably unknowingly, a tendency to group together amongst people that are similar,” she says.”However, I think we’ve all seen during this crisis that the benefit comes from grouping together with people that are different from you, to bring different opinions to the table and listen to them.”So that’s one of the major steps we are trying to encourage – creating a diversity of people, instead of everyone being just the same.”

Microsoft has told staff that they will have the option of working from home permanently with manager approval.The move mimics the US tech giant’s rivals Facebook and Twitter, which have also said remote work would be a permanent option.It follows a rapid shift away from office working prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.Many companies are reconsidering how much office space they need, expecting a long-term increase in remote staff.Microsoft said some roles will continue to require an in-person presence, such as those needing access to hardware, the firm added. But many staff will also be able to work from home part-time, without needing formal approval from their managers.”Our goal is to evolve the way we work over time with intention—guided by employee input, data, and our commitment to support individual work styles and business needs while living our culture,” a Microsoft spokesperson said of the new guidance, which she said would apply to UK staff as well.’Extremely unusual’As of April, more than 46% of those employed were doing some work from home, according to the Office of National Statistics. That was comparable to the US, where 42% of the workforce was remote in May, according to Stanford University economics professor Nicholas Bloom, whose research looked at people aged 20-64, earning more than $10,000 last year.While that share decreased to about 35% in August, it still marked a major change. Before the pandemic, just 2% of workers were remote full time, he said.”What we’re doing now is extremely unusual,” he said.Permanent shiftMany employers hailed the shift initially as being surprisingly productive. But as the months have passed, some of the drawbacks have emerged.For example, at a conference this month, Microsoft’s own chief executive Satya Nadella said the lack of division between private life and work life meant “it sometimes feels like you are sleeping at work”.As companies look beyond the pandemic, Prof Bloom said many are eyeing policies that combine two days a week at home with three days of office time, which will remain important for meetings, building company culture and loyalty and basic mental health.”The radical extremes – so, full-time in the office or full-time at home – are not ideal for most people,” said Prof Bloom. Bu he said he did not expect the pre-pandemic office to return.”The Microsoft statement is completely in line with everything I’ve been hearing,” he said. “There’s pretty much uniform consensus now that the pandemic has permanently shifted the way we work.”A Willis Towers Watson survey of US employers in May found that they expected 22% of staff to continue working from home after the pandemic, up from just 7% in 2019.About 55% of employers said they expected staff to work from home at least one day a week after concerns about the virus passes, a PWC survey found. And more than 80% of employees said they supported that idea. Analysts say such a shift could have widespread implications, reducing demand for office and residential properties in expensive city centres. Rents in New York and San Francisco have already dropped.Prof Bloom said the changes in the workplace may help ease affordability issues, but won’t spell the end of city centres.”The affordability levels of New York and San Francisco may go back to where they were in 2005,” he said. “It’s clearly not the case they’re going to empty out.”

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Employees who work for UK firms forced to shut by law because of coronavirus restrictions are to get two-thirds of their wages paid for by the government.The scheme, announced by Rishi Sunak, begins on 1 November for six months and a Treasury source said it could cost hundreds of millions of pounds a month.A restrictions update, which could see pubs and restaurants shut in the worst-affected areas, is expected on Monday.Leaders in areas now under restrictions said the scheme did not go far enough.In a statement, the mayors of Greater Manchester, North Tyne, Sheffield and Liverpool said: “We are pleased that the government has listened and recognised that any new system of restrictions must come with a substantial package of financial support.” But they said it was only a “start” and more help was needed “to prevent genuine hardship, job losses and business failure this winter”.The announcement comes just a fortnight after the government unveiled its Job Support Scheme – replacing the furlough scheme – to top up the wages of staff who have not been able to return to the workplace full time.The latest scheme will only apply to businesses told to close – rather than those who choose to shut because of the broader impact of Covid restrictions. The support will be reviewed in January. Until November businesses that are asked to close can continue to use the existing furlough scheme.The grants will be paid up to a maximum of £2,100 per employee a month and the Treasury said they would protect jobs and enable businesses to reopen quickly once restrictions are lifted.’Losing out’One pub manager in Otley, West Yorkshire, said the scheme “doesn’t even touch the sides” in terms of its impact on pubs.”Two-thirds of somebody’s wage isn’t going to cut it,” said Mel Green, 41, of The Black Bull.”We’re in a trade where everyone’s on national minimum wage pretty much. They’re the ones that are losing out. A lot of them are living hand to mouth already and they’ve already had hours reduced.”The chancellor said the latest measures for companies forced to shut would provide “reassurance and a safety net for people and businesses in advance of what may be a difficult winter”.In addition, for businesses forced to close in England, Mr Sunak announced an increase in business grants – with up to £3,000 a month paid every fortnight.The Treasury says the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive increased funding allowing them to bring in similar measures if they choose to.It is a sign of how quickly the coronavirus situation has soured that the chancellor is having to return to a policy he thought he’d parked less than two weeks ago when he announced his Winter Economic Plan. The government insists this is not a retread of the furlough scheme, which is due to expire at the end of this month, but in all important aspects this is furlough mark two. The crucial bit is that small employers will not have to make any contribution to their workers’ wages if they are legally forced to shut down. Larger businesses will have to contribute about 5% of employee costs in the form of National Insurance and pension contributions. That is much more generous than the expiring furlough scheme and way more generous than the Job Support Scheme Mr Sunak announced 10 days ago, which requires employers to pay 55% of active workers’ salaries. The reason for that is simple – those measures applied to businesses that were allowed to be open. This new scheme only applies to businesses which are not. Other questions are not simple – who will be eligible? What about businesses that were never allowed to reopen since March? Will it be applied by postcode? Will you be able to walk 10 minutes down the road to go to the pub that is open but having to pay 55% of staff wages when it’s less than half full?And perhaps most importantly for the expected “beneficiaries” of this scheme – the hospitality industry – how strong is the evidence on which this policy is based and can we see it in detail?Labour said the government’s “rather slow, incompetent, dithering response” had caused “unnecessary anxiety and job losses”.Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds welcomed the measures but called for further changes to the scheme to incentivise employers to keep more of their staff on.The CBI business lobby group said the scheme “should cushion the blow for the most affected and keep more people in work”.”But many firms, including pubs and restaurants, will still be hugely disappointed if they have to close their doors again after doing so much to keep customers and staff safe,” added CBI boss Dame Carolyn Fairbairn.Federation of Small Businesses boss Mike Cherry said the extra help for closed businesses would be “welcomed by thousands of small businesses”.Shop workers’ trade union Usdaw said it was concerned retailers facing reduced business in an area subject to the new restrictions would not benefit from the scheme.Meanwhile, the number of people in the UK to have tested positive for coronavirus rose by 13,864 – a decrease of 3,676 on Thursday’s figures – with a further 87 deaths reported on the government’s dashboard.’Range of options’The chancellor described his announcement as “a very different scheme to what we’ve had before, this is not a universal approach, this is an expansion of the job support scheme specifically for those people who are in businesses that will be formally or legally asked to close”. Asked whether the announcement suggested the government was going to ask businesses, such as those in hospitality, to shut, Mr Sunak said: “The rise in cases and hospital admissions in certain parts of the country is a concern.”It’s right the government considers a range of options… but it’s also right they engage with local leaders.”That is what’s happening this afternoon and over the weekend so those conversations can happen and collectively we can decide on the appropriate response.”
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The Job Support Scheme, which will replace the furlough scheme from 1 November, will see eligible workers get three quarters of their normal salaries for six months.To qualify, employees must be in a ”viable job” where they can work for at least one-third of their normal hours.For the hours not worked, the government and employer will each pay one-third of the remaining wages. This means the employee would get at least 77% of their pay.A tiered system of measures for England is expected to be announced by Monday, in an effort to stall rising infection rates, to replace the patchwork of existing rules across the country.Under the new system, different parts of the country would be placed in different categories – although ministers are still discussing the precise details.Pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst-affected areas, including parts of northern England and the Midlands, while a ban on overnight stays is also being considered. TEST AND TRACE EXPOSED: Panorama hears from whistleblowers working on the coronavirus tracking system

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Businesses groups have largely welcomed a new wage support for workers at firms forced to close by Covid restrictions.Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the state will cover two-thirds of staff wages at closed workplaces, and firms in England can get grants of up to £3,000 per month. The subsidy is an extension to the Job Support Scheme announced last month.The CBI business lobby group said it “should cushion the blow for the most affected and keep more people in work”.”But many firms, including pubs and restaurants, will still be hugely disappointed if they have to close their doors again after doing so much to keep customers and staff safe,” added CBI boss Dame Carolyn Fairbairn.The business group additionally called for a “consistent and open strategy for living with Covid-19 through the autumn and winter”.An update on restrictions, which could see pubs and restaurants shut in the worst-affected areas, is expected on Monday.UK workers to get 67% of pay if firms told to shut
UK economic growth slows despite restaurant boost
UK Hospitality, an industry body representing pubs, restaurants and bars, also welcomed the government support for wage bills, but said more help was needed for companies still trading under restrictions.”Support for nightclubs and other businesses left in limbo, still unable to reopen, is very welcome. It will help save jobs in a sector that would be sorely missed it were allowed to die,” said UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls.”However, worryingly, it does nothing to address the issues faced by sector businesses operating well below capacity due to restrictions and consumers avoiding travel and struggling to keep their workforce employed”.’Haemorrhaging money’The boss of London pub company Young’s said pubs and restaurants should be congratulated by the government for creating safe environments for patrons, not seen as a problem whose activities should be restricted.Chief executive Patrick Dardis said: “Since reopening, we have had 2.7 million people through our doors, but just nine confirmed Covid cases. That’s an infection rate of just 0.00000328%. “Our sector has spent hundreds of millions in ensuring it is Covid safe and secure for staff and customers alike.” The head chef at Newcastle field-to-fork restaurant Bistro forty six, Max Gott, said the restrictions already in place mean he can only sit 12 people per night instead of 30. If a local lockdown was imposed, Mr Gott said the company would have to decide whether it was worth taking the grants, shut up shop and furlough staff while “trying not to haemorrhage too much money while we shut, or try and operate as a takeaway and try and make some money and break even, although that’s unlikely”.He said it would be better for staff if his restaurant could access grants and the subsidy while operating as a take-away.”Some of the staff won’t be able to live on two-thirds wages, we’ve got mortgages to pay,” Mr Gott added.See-sawing between opening and closing the restaurant, based on customer reactions to restrictions, came with added costs each time, he said.”We’ve got bills coming in all the time – we’ve got stock that we’ll lose – if we had to shut we’ve got £300 of stock that we’d put in the bin or try to give away or something so it all adds up and each time we get told to shut and then open it’s a cost”.Impact on suppliersFederation of Small Businesses boss Mike Cherry said the extra help for closed businesses would be “welcomed by thousands of small businesses”.”Evolving the Job Support Scheme to provide two-thirds of total salary costs together with enhancing existing cash grants for those faced with this scenario are both game-changers, and it’s welcome to see them adopted today.”We will work with government on clarity on where and when any new restrictions will apply, and clear, accessible small-business-friendly guidance to make sure this help gets to those facing a lockdown of their business premises.”Although it said “a lockdown with support for staff wages is better than a lockdown without any support,” the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce warned that if businesses were forced to close it was not just staff who lost money.”Companies who supply the food and drink we consume in bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants will feel the consequences too,” said Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton.”Similarly, sectors which aren’t formally forced to close could well find that their custom drops because of wider lockdown restrictions, thus impacting on their viability too.”

Edinburgh Woollen Mill, owner of the Peacocks and Jaeger clothing brands, says it plans to appoint administrators in an attempt to save the business.The move puts 21,000 jobs at risk amid what the company described as “brutal” trading conditions.”Like every retailer, we have found the past seven months extremely difficult,” said Edinburgh Woollen Mill chief executive Steve Simpson.The stores will continue to trade as a review of the firm is carried out.The company says it has had “a number of expressions of interest for various parts of the group” which it will consider.Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM), which is owned by billionaire businessman Philip Day, has 1,100 stores for its brands.The businesses attract older shoppers who are likely to be keeping away from the High Street to protect against coronavirus, says Catherine Shuttleworth, an independent retail expert.She said it was a “devastating blow” to small towns and tourist areas where they are based and that buyers for the businesses as a whole could be hard to come by.”You might get piecemeal buyers, but I don’t hold out much hope,” she said. Mr Day has a £1.14bn fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.He bought Bonmarché out of administration in February. The deal ruffled some feathers, since Mr Day was its previous owner and landlords and suppliers were expected to forgive some of its debts.Bonmarché is not part of the plans announced on Friday. Edinburgh Woollen Mill, including Bonmarché, employs 24,000 people.”Significant cuts” EWM said it had filed a notice to appoint administrators, partly because of “the harsh trading conditions caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a recent reduction in its credit insurance”.Mr Simpson said: “Through this process, I hope and believe we will be able to secure the best future for our businesses, but there will inevitably be significant cuts and closures as we work our way through this.”He also blamed part of the company’s troubles on “a series of false rumours about our payments and trading which have impacted our credit insurance”.EWM has been accused by suppliers in Bangladesh of not paying for goods. The company denies this.EWM has appointed FRP to review the business. The firm was also hired for the Bonmarché administration.A spokesperson for FRP said: “Our team is working with the directors of a number of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group subsidiaries to explore all options for the future of its retail brands, including Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Jaeger, Ponden Mill and Peacocks.”The pandemic has accelerated a shift in the retail industry from physical stores to online shopping people have been stuck at home and stores have been temporarily closed.Last month, the boss of one of the UK’s most successful and resilient High Street chains told the BBC that hundreds of thousands of traditional retail jobs may not survive in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.Lord Wolfson, who runs clothing firm Next, said there was a clear threat to thousands of jobs, which are now “unviable” because the lockdown has triggered a permanent shift to online shopping. Are you an Edinburgh Woollen Mills employee? Have you been affected by the issues raised here? Share your experiences by emailing [email protected] include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803

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Ryanair has said it expects the controversial Boeing 737 Max plane to be allowed to fly again in the US in the next month or so.The airline’s boss, Eddie Wilson, said it hoped to start taking delivery of the planes early next year.No Max planes have flown since March 2019 after issues with its software were linked to crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which killed 346 people.Before the flight ban, Ryanair had 135 of them on order.”The first of those we would hope to arrive in very early 2021,” Mr Wilson told Ireland’s Newstalk radio station.Investigators of the fatal crashes blamed faults in the 737 Max’s flight control system, which Boeing has been overhauling for months in order to meet new safety demands.Mr Wilson was speaking after the US airline regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), issued a draft report on revised training procedures for the 737 Max.The FAA, which completed test flights last week, has invited comments from interested parties, with a deadline of 1 November.However, it is not the only regulator putting the modified 737 Max through its paces.The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which started its own testing programme last month, has maintained that clearance by the FAA will not automatically mean the plane is considered airworthy in Europe.Last month, both Boeing and the FAA were harshly criticised by a US congressional investigation.Its report blamed a “culture of concealment” at Boeing and “grossly insufficient oversight” by the FAA.

The latest punitive measure comes weeks after the US declared the return – or “snapback” – of UN sanctions on Iran that were lifted under a 2015 international deal over Iran’s nuclear programme, accusing Tehran of having breached that agreement.