Business News Round Up (02/04/2020)
Nearly two-thirds of UK businesses three months from running out of cash
Nearly two thirds of businesses in the UK have three months or less cash in reserve, according to a new survey. The British Chambers of Commerce business barometer, a survey of more than 600 members, found that 62% warned they had no more than three months of cash to cover running costs, with only 6% of respondents reported more than 12 months’ worth of cash in reserve, while 44% expected to furlough at least 50% of their workforce in the next week. The polling between 25-27 March will be repeated over the next few months to serve as a barometer of business’s response to the UK Government’s measures and changes to business working practices.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/nearly-two-thirds-uk-businesses-21797757
COP26 climate conference postponed due to coronavirus
The United Nations (UN) climate change conference COP26, which is to be held in Glasgow has been postponed because of disruption caused by coronavirus. The announcement was made in a joint statement from the UK and UN after a virtual meeting of officials. Around 30,000 politicians, environmental campaigners were due to attend COP26 on November 9, it is expected the conference will be rescheduled to the middle of next year.
https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,cop26-climate-conference-postponed-due-to-coronavirus_15311.htm
Greater Manchester has the country’s second largest FinTech ecosystem
A new report from Whitecap Consulting has found Greater Manchester is the largest regional FinTech ecosystem in England, outside of London. The new report has identified and researched 39 FinTech start-ups and scale-ups that are within the Greater Manchester ecosystem, which is the largest number of all the regional FinTech ecosystems assessed by Whitecap Consulting to date. 49% of these firms are scale-ups, which is also the highest proportion identified in any region. The report also finds 109 firms active in FinTech in the region, including established financial organisations, tech firms, as well as the FinTech start-ups and scale-ups.
Hut Group donates £10m of Covid-19 aid to Manchester and wider markets
The Hut Group (THG), a Manchester based global consumer brand and proprietary technology group, has announced a £10 million aid package to support vulnerable communities, key workers and emergency services in Manchester, the UK and its international markets during the Covid-19 outbreak. THG is donating £5 million of aid directly into the Manchester area, £500,000 will be given to the Lord Mayor of Manchester’s charity We Love MCR, which is supporting groups and charities responding to the coronavirus issue in the city of Manchester through its COVID-19 community response fund, a further £500,000 will be given to the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity which helps homeless people across Greater Manchester. A further £4m of critical products and services will be distributed across key sites in the region, including NHS staff on the frontline and more vulnerable people in the region.