UK business & economy

• Defaults on emergency Covid loans set to be up to £5bn 4th August 2021
  Failure by businesses to repay bounce back funds ‘nowhere near as bad’ as first feared
• Adult skills and training vital to UK ‘levelling up’, says study 3rd August 2021
  Think-tank shows disparity in qualifications, health and access to finance across regions
• Border restrictions will not stop variants entering UK, say scientists 3rd August 2021
  Government prepares to announce simplified system for international travel this week
• Medical opium industry on brink of collapse, warn UK poppy farmers 3rd August 2021
  Growers call on Home Office to introduce ‘cultivation licence’ to save £50m a year industry
• Bank of England confronts policy dilemma over inflation surge 3rd August 2021
  Analysts expect MPC to keep monetary policy unchanged but await updated economic outlook
• Sunak resists pressure to remove cap on bankers’ bonuses 2nd August 2021
  Bank chiefs fear the EU rule could hamper the City of London’s global competitiveness
• UK pushes floating wind farms in drive to meet climate targets 2nd August 2021
  Boris Johnson has set a 1GW goal for 2030 but there are concerns UK supply chain will lose out to foreign companies
• House prices/Rightmove: UK property portal is impregnable to rivals 2nd August 2021
  Visits to site hit 1.4bn in first six months of this year, up from 845m in same period of 2019
• ‘Pingdemic’ leaves 25% of English nightclubs facing closure or reduced hours 2nd August 2021
  Quarter of venues say all of their staff are self-isolating after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace app
• UK construction faces ‘perfect storm’ as supply shortages loom 2nd August 2021
  Building activity passed pre-pandemic levels in May but Covid and Brexit put industry under pressure