PM Confirms Reopening Following a scheduled review into the upcoming reopening of the UK economy: PM Johnson has concluded that further easing of COVID restrictions will commence on the 12th of April. This signals the return of ‘non-essential’ retail and outdoor hospitality which will come as welcome news to the nations pub-goers. The public can also expect hairdressers, nail salons, theme parks, zoos, gyms, leisure centres and life events (including weddings) ...
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Tech Tax In the April, of 2020, the UK Government introduced a new 2% ‘tech tax’ on the revenues of search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces which “derive value from UK users”. However, on Monday (29th March 2021) the US warned of tariffs being introduced to counter this impact with some British-made products potentially facing tariffs of up to 25%. UK ceramics and overcoats have both been identified as ...
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BSCC Patron member Barclays has established a new European hub in Dublin as the almost 350 year-old British bank looks to capture a larger share of the EU’s desirable wealth business. The target for this expansion will be the continent’s ultra-high-net-worth which focuses on clients with investable assets of circa $100m. Barclays has already achieved success in their existing private banking wealth management hubs in Monaco, Switzerland and Ireland with ...
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Economic Outlook The Bank of England (BoE) has warned that the UK’s economic outlook is “unusually uncertain” even with the rapid vaccine rollout. A focus on how the pandemic evolves in the coming months will be a top priority and the maintained interest rates at 0.1% for March has highlighted this lack of clarity. Some analysts have also noted that the BoE may be reluctant to raise interest rates as their ...
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BSCC Patron member Essity have published their ‘Annual and Sustainability Report 2020’ which follows on from the company’s mission statement: to sustainably develop, produce, market and sell value-added products and services within hygiene and health. This is being achieved by striving for 100% recyclability of all brand packaging (including TORK, TENA and Lotus) and sourcing fresh fiber from certified wood-based supply chains. The company’s 46,000 employees, representing sales of 121,752 ...
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The UPS Foundation and UPS Healthcare are working to quickly deliver an equitable delivery program of COVID-19 vaccines. The multinational (in collaboration with COVAX, Gavi and CARE) has made a commitment to supply 20 million doses to countries across four continents. Africa, Asia, Europe and South America are set to benefit from this effort through the UPS ‘cold-chain network’ which provides the necessary freezer capacity for global shipping of vaccines. Scott ...
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UK Exports to the EU British exports to the EU fell 40.7%, according to the ONS, in the month of January and imports declined 28.8% - representing the largest fall since records began in 1997. However, the net trade deficit with the EU was actually cut as the value of goods exported was reduced by £5.6bn in comparison to the £6.6bn lost from EU imports into the UK. The economy is ...
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The Grand Hôtel in Stockholm recently completed an extensive renovation of hotel rooms and suites, encompassing a total of 19 rooms and suites in the Bolinder Palace part of the hotel. While exuding a Grand Hôtel ambiance, the new rooms and suites bring to mind the continent and international residences, with bold wallpaper, light woods, and surprising detail-rich interiors. In addition to the eclectic decor, the renovation facilitates a new, ...
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UK Budget 2021 On Wednesday, the 3rd of March, the Chancellor unveiled the Budget for the year to widespread approval from the public. The pressures of the Budget were to work on a swift economic rebound following an almost 10% contraction in GDP during 2020. Furthermore, 700,000 people have lost their jobs since the beginning of the pandemic and unemployment could now peak at 6.5% over the year. The key points of ...
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Volvo Trucks have set their eyes on the introduction of heavy-duty electric trucks to be used for regional transport across the continent in the near future. The use of electric trucks so far has mainly focused upon short-haul distances between major settlements but the current pilot tests, using the Volvo FH truck (weighing up to 60,000kgs), will be working on distances around 150km with DHL Freight. Future customers of these ...
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