A typical UK family will spend £1,700 more per year on household costs in 2022, according to a forecast for BBC Panorama. The analysis, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), projected the inflation rate would rise to 4.6% by Christmas. This rise is mainly due to higher fuel and energy prices.

4.4 million people quit their job in the US this September providing yet further evidence of the ongoing Great Resignation phenomenon. The quits rate – the number of voluntary separations as a share of total employment – rose to 3.0% in the same month, the highest since the start of the data series in December

The labour market data out in the past week highlighted two facets of official policy: The early post-furlough employment data showed that employment had bounced back with 160,000 more workers added to company payrolls during October. The unemployment rate for the three months to September (when furlough still existed but when its impact on the labour

Measuring the value of physics-based industries in the UK Measuring the value of physics-based industries in England Measuring the value of physics-based industries in Scotland Measuring the value of physics-based industries in Wales Measuring the value of physics-based industries in Ireland Measuring the value of physics-based industries in Northern Ireland Cebr is delighted to present

Research conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), in conjunction with SnapLogic, has found that automation is having a profound impact on the monthly revenues of UK businesses. Within three months of investment in automation technologies, UK companies saw an average increase of five percent – or £14 billion – per month. The impact on

Four hundred private jets, an 85 car motorcade with President Biden, two of the one hundred Zimbabwean delegates pictured coming out of Costco laden with trolleys full of expensive liquor. It’s easy to be sceptical about COP26. From our few days spent in Glasgow, the great jamboree has certainly lived up to expectations with overpriced

It is attracting about 140 world leaders to Glasgow, along with more than 25,000 delegates, and seeking to raise more than £73 billion a year to support developing countries. But, as the world slowly emerges from the pandemic, the United Nations Cop26 climate conference is likely to be a bit of a damp squib in

One of the surprises of the Budget was the rise in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s inflation forecast for 2022 to 4% (average across the year) despite frozen fuel duties and a squeeze on some alcohol duties. The figure is in line with Cebr forecasts but until recently officials in both Whitehall and Threadneedle Street

Rishi Sunak is an ambitious man who hopes to be the next Prime Minister. His Budget today is an attempt to steer a course between the prejudices of his boss, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and those of his Department, the Treasury. The essence of Borisism is that the fundamental law of economic gravity, that you

Though his popularity has tumbled in the last year as he has faced the hard choices demanded by the economy, more people still think Rishi Sunak is doing a good job than think he is doing a bad job, according to YouGov’s monthly survey. But he is now facing multiple challenges as he prepares his

An article by Douglas McWilliams for Reaction There is one subject on which both the hawks and doves who disagree over interest rates do agree on: that the Bank of England is making a horlicks of its communications with the outside world, and more pertinently, the financial markets. Over the last week we have heard

The August GDP data, released last week, showed that GDP was still 0.8% below its past peak in February 2020. Meanwhile data on employment released almost simultaneously showed that the number of payrolled employees in September 2021 was 0.4% more than in February 2020. With so many activities being revolutionised digitally one might have expected

View this article here. UK households cut their carbon emissions by an estimated 33 million tonnes in 2020 as people spent less during the pandemic, according to a report. Reduced spending on eating out, transport and clothing were some of the biggest drivers behind a 10% fall in the amount of CO2 produced by households’ consumption of

View this article here. UK – Confidence among UK consumers fell by 2.3 points in September, with considerable declines in confidence around household finances, according to analysis from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The drop to an overall confidence level of 110.5 means confidence has returned to the same level

View this article here. Open Banking provider Yolt Technology Services (YTS) has launched its inaugural European Open Banking Outlook (EOBO) revealing huge growth potential for Open Banking. The paper shows that 40% of banking customers across Europe’s biggest markets are not currently using any Open Banking solution. YTS also sets out how this potential can be unlocked. The EOBO,

View this article here. LONDON (Bywire News) – On Monday, a survey by YouGov showed that consumer confidence hit a five-month low in September, due to an increase in inflation and goods shortages households became less confident about their financial situation. According to YouGov and consultancy company CEBR, the gauge of consumer confidence dropped by

View this article here. The last six months of consumer confidence index gains have been lost amid the fuel crisis and labour shortages, according to the latest analysis from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research. The pair’s consumer confidence index fell in September by 2.3 points to 110.5, a level last seen in April

View this article here. Gloucester has unveiled plans for a digital-come-lifestyle development which aims to transform the city centre. Gloucester Forum, targeting a 2023 opening, will feature two smart offices spanning over 100,000sq ft, a 131-bedroom four-star hotel, 43 apartments, retail facilities, member’s club, gym, creative hub, public spaces, transport hub (new bus station, revamped train

View this article here. Parents saving for their children in cash Junior Isas have missed out on up to £13.5billion in potential returns over the past decade, new research suggests.  Those who favoured the ‘stocks and shares’ version of the popular tax-free savings account over the cash option would have earned up to £32,300 each

The fuel crisis has been plaguing the country for the better part of the past two weeks, leading to hour-long queues at forecourts and frustration among motorists. Triggered by the closure of only a handful of gas stations on 23rd September, the crisis has quickly escalated, as drivers rushed to fill up their tanks. Whilst pressures

View this article here. The maker of Quality Street has said it is ‘working hard’ to make sure the Christmasfavourite is on shelves before December 25 after also being hit by the ongoing supply chaincrisis which is threatening to detail the winter holiday for millions this year.  Nestle, which also makers Lion bars, Aero and KitKat, admitted

View this article here. Foods from pasta to eggs and chipolatas to chopped tomatoes have risen in price at supermarkets since the pandemic began, as hard-up British families face spiralling costs of living amid the threat of rising inflation. Analysis by MailOnline of prices today compared to those in March 2020 found other goods that

View this article here. Property buyers risk having their mortgage offer cut by £15,000 as banks take a negative view of spiralling household bills.  The cost of energy, fuel, food and clothing has risen in recent weeks and is likely to increase further. The energy crisis in particular has added huge pressure onto household bills.  If

View the full report here. Executive Summary Report overview This is a Cebr report for Animal Free Research UK, assessing the economic contributions made by New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in the UK. The report considers the direct economic contributions made by the UK NAMs sector during 2017-2019 as well as a forecast of its projected

View this article here. Britain’s winter of discontent looks to be getting worse as the price of wholesale gas surged by 20 per cent in a day to record levels yesterday – and is now 500 per cent higher than the start of 2021 – as it was revealed families face paying £1,700 more for

View this article here. Analysis by Scottish Friendly and the Centre for Economics and Business Research shows that a cash junior ISA holder who maxed out their annual ISA allowance every year since 2011 would have built up a pot worth £52,200 after depositing a total of £44,800. However, if the same person had opted

View this article here. The gender pensions gap has been grabbing headlines recently, with an alarming new study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research unveiling that the pandemic has increased the gender pensions gap to almost £200,000. Indeed, despite women putting a bigger proportion of their income into pensions, this gap is still

View this article here. After decades of quiescence, inflation — that insidious, silent thief — is on the prowl in Britain again, threatening to be the biggest Seventies comeback since the Abba revival. Worse, the spectre of ‘stagflation’, rapidly rising prices combined with low growth, is scaring the markets. And no one is more alive to the

View this article here. Eurozone inflation hit a 13-year high in September, rising at its fastest pace since 2008 as energy costs skyrocketed, with analysts warning that high inflation could continue for several months. Consumer price inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro accelerated to 3.4 per cent in September compared with the same month

View this article here. The pandemic has increased the gender pensions gap to almost £200,000, studies have shown, but there are steps women can take to improve their financial security later in life.  Data from the Centre for Economics, Business and Research has revealed the pandemic has increased the gender pensions gap, despite women giving a bigger

View the discussion here. Josie Dent, Managing Economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, discusses the contrast in central banks’ policies and looks ahead to euro area inflation data. She speaks to Bloomberg’s Dani Burger and Manus Cranny on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Europe.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Yesterday (September 30th) marked the final day of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. First announced in March 2020 and set to end in May of last year, the furlough scheme had been extended several times in the hopes it would prevent a spike in unemployment that would have otherwise been expected given the sharp

View this article here. More than half a million older workers are at risk of losing their jobs after the furlough scheme comes to an end today. The Government support scheme has been a lifeline for millions of workers during the pandemic and many employers have relied on it up until its closure on September 30. Workers

View this article here. Brits face paying more than £300 more for spiralling energy bills next year with poorer families set to be hit hardest, according to new research. The outlook is gloomy with the Bank of England warning of inflation rising to a decade high of around 4 per cent coupled with rising tax

View this article here. On Friday 24th September the 2021 Anglo Greek Symposium featured Cebr’s Deputy Chairman, Douglas McWilliams, speaking about the virtues of a Flat White Economy. The session was also chaired by Cebr Board Member, Vicky Pryce.

View this article here. Energy bills will rise by more than £300 over the next year, highlighting the scale of the impact the crisis will have on Brits’ finances, shows research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The poorest households will experience a £258 uptick in their energy bills, representing 16 per

Research from the CEBR shows the nation’s poorest families will take the biggest hit as the energy crisis bites View this article here. Britain’s mounting cost of living crisis is set to cost households more than £300 each in soaring energy bills next year as the nation’s poorest families take the biggest hit, new forecasts show. The

On Sunday, Germans will vote for a new Bundestag which will subsequently elect a new Chancellor. After 16 years, it is undoubtedly the end of an era, certainly for me as a German. The last time Germany had a Chancellor that was not Angela Merkel, I was still not allowed to drive a car or

View this article here. A new report exposes a significant risk that the UK’s small and micro businesses will miss out on an estimated £827 billion growth opportunity over the next five years if they are not supported to digitise. Technology has already played a critical role in supporting small businesses through the pandemic, with

View this article here. The rise of flexible ways of working could help almost four million people previously “locked out” from work to enter or return to the jobs market. Hybrid working could add more than £48 billion to the British economy each year by allowing parents, carers and disabled people into the workforce and

Read the full report here. Executive Summary: Organisations supported by the Community Justice Fund help 483,000 clients a year The average net benefit to Treasury for each client helped is £8,000, while the average cost of advice provision is just £510 per person. This equates to a net benefit to the public purse of £4billion

View this article here. Household confidence dipped last month as fears about job security mounted and as the housing market lost momentum, according to a report. The Centre for Economics and Business Research and YouGov found that consumer confidence in Britain had fallen by 0.3 points to 112.9 in August, although that was still above the 100

View this article here. Openreach and First Minister for Wales, Mark Drakeford, today unveiled a brand new ‘National Learning Centre for Wales’ that will teach the country’s next generation of telecoms engineers how to build and maintain vital broadband services for communities across the country. Based in Newport, the new £1.7 million centre will give

View this article here. The number of people with jobs rebounded to pre-pandemic levels after the biggest jump in employment since 2014, new figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said workers on payrolls rose by 241,000 between July and August. It also said the rate of unemployment dropped again, to 4.6 percent. The

View this article here. The number of people with jobs rebounded to pre-pandemic levels after the biggest jump in employment since 2014, new figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said workers on payrolls rose by 241,000 between July and August. It also said the rate of unemployment dropped again, to 4.6 percent. The

View this article here. Despite the continuing weaknesses of our still fragile democracy, the Philippines is no longer known in international circles as the “sick man of Asia.” Since the beginning of the Third Millennium, as we saw in previous articles in this series, the Philippines has been constantly in the list of the most

View this article here. In the CEBR report, Bangladesh ranks 40th among 193 nations this year and would ascend to 25th in 2034, a place presently held by Belgium According to the World Economic League Table 2020, Bangladesh’s economy would grow at one of the fastest rates between 2020 and 2034, thanks to a demographic

View this article here. Decisive policy action is needed by government to fix the gender pensions crisis, senior industry professionals have stated. Sean Christian, managing director and executive director of the wealth management division at Canada Life, called the gender pension gap between men and women a serious “inequality” which “can only be addressed through

View this article here. Vacancy numbers in the U.K. soared by 249,000 to more than one million for the first time since records began, amid staff shortages worsened by the pandemic and post-Brexit immigration curbs. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Tuesday the rate of unemployment dropped to 4.6 percent, with the number of U.K. workers

Douglas McWilliams View this article here. The debate about the funding of social care has reopened the arguments about the inequality of wealth distribution in the UK between the old and the young. The generally accepted narrative, aggressively promoted in Lord Willetts’ book, The Pinch – How the baby boomers took their children’s future – and why

This week saw the announcement of the Government’s plans for long-awaited reform to the social care system, an issue that has plagued Prime Ministers for decades. The reforms, which come into force from October 2023, involve a cap of £86,000 on the care costs paid by individuals across their lifetime, and tapered care cost support for

View this article here. Alarming figures showed Britain’s post-Covid recovery grinding to a virtual halt in July just days after Boris Johnson unveiled plans for a £36bn tax raid. The anaemic growth of just 0.1pc leaves the economy 2.1pc below its pre-pandemic peak during a month when the surging delta variant triggered a ‘pingdemic’ of absent

View this article here. The UK’s economic growth ground to a virtual halt in July amid the pingdemic, as economists and Tory MPs warned that Boris Johnson’s £36bn tax raid threatens to further stifle the recovery.  Growth of just 0.1 per cent leaves the economy 2.1 per cent below its pre-pandemic peak during a month when the

View this article here. A leading London-based think tank has warned the Taliban will be forced to seek cooperation with China to resuscitate the country’s war-torn economy following US withdrawal and the freezing of Western aid. A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research said China was best placed to fill the vacuum

View this article here. Coastal and rural areas in Scotland have seen a significant decline in trading companies over the first 12 months of the pandemic, when compared to the previous 12 months. The average monthly number of new businesses starting up has declined across the UK during the coronavirus crisis, but the decline in

View this article here. The new report from L&G and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found that 47 percent of all over 50s are predicted to be part of the UK’s workforce. In 2020, the number of people over the age 50 in work rose to 42 percent, a sharp rise from

View this article here. British factory output in August grew at the weakest rate for six months as supply chain challenges affect manufacturers’ recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, according to IHS Markit. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 60.3 last month from 60.4 in July. While the figure was still above the 50

View this article here. Annual inflation across some of the world’s biggest economies increased to 4.2 per cent in July, driven by soaring energy and good prices, according to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development. The rise in prices in July, up 0.2 per cent on June, came as energy prices across the 37-member

View this article here. Scottish households are facing a £31 billion savings shortfall despite the stay-at-home boost caused by Covid-19 restrictions, a new report says. This is the extra amount Scots believe they would need to withstand a financial shock, which equates to an average shortfall of £6,938 per head, according to Yorkshire Building Society (YBS). Its

We normally allocate the country reports for Cebr’s World Economic League Table in turn. I traditionally get the first country on the list which is Afghanistan. And so I’ve been writing a macro report on its economy each year for the past four years. Over this period, the prospects for the economy have gradually deteriorated.

View this article here. A National Insurance hike will deal the UK’s recovery up to a £6.5 billion blow, risk thousands of jobs and worsen inequalities, economists have warned as the Prime Minister readies a tax raid to fund a social care overhaul. Boris Johnson was urged to reconsider the proposals to pay for elderly care by

View this article here. Consumers are currently facing a £371bn savings shortfall when it comes to feeling able to withstand a financial shock, according to Yorkshire Building Society’s The Nation’s Nest Egg report. The report, which was conducted in partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), found that UK adults require savings

View this article here. The proportion of people aged over 50 in employment is set to hit 47 per cent by 2030 following a 36 per cent increase in the absolute number the last two decades, according to a new report. The ‘Working Late: Over 50s and employment’ report, released by Legal & General Retail

View this article here. The number of people over the age of 50 in work is set to reach a record high by 2030, a new report predicts. Research suggests that almost half of those in the older age group will be in work within the next decade, compared with fewer than a third in

View this article here. The proportion of over-50s in work is set to reach a record high of 47 per cent by 2030, according to Legal & General (L&G) Retail Retirement and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), with a similar trend expected for those working past state pension age. The report, Working Late:

View this article here. Despite progress at many major contractors, the construction industry is still moving too slowly in tackling late payment, says the Good Business Pays campaign group. The Good Business Pays campaign launched on the 14th May 2021 to encourage the UK’s largest companies to fast track payments to small suppliers, helping them

View this article here. The number of people over the age of 50 in work is set to reach a record high by 2030, a new report predicts. Research suggests that almost half of those in the older age group will be in work within the next decade, compared with fewer than a third in

View this article here. The government should create four more bank holidays to improve the “stingy” entitlement that UK workers have in comparison with other countries, the Trades Union Congress has said. Workers in England and Wales enjoyed eight bank holidays a year, while the European Union average was 12.8, it said. Of the home

View this article here. Saving money has been a challenge for many people due to the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for others, remaining at home has meant cutting down on expenditure which can go towards their savings. Despite a bumper stay-at-home savings boost, though, many are falling short of what they need to feel

View this article here. Consumers are currently facing a £371bn savings shortfallwhen it comes to feeling ready to cope with a financial shock, according to a new report. Adults in the UK require a nest egg of £17,465 to feel financially secure while the average Briton needs an additional £7,220 to reach this goal, Yorkshire

The latest SMMT data on car production show that in July, UK manufacturers assembled less than 54,000 new cars. This is the worst July figure since 1956 and a 37.4% year-on-year decline [1]. Up until March this year, car production had seen reasonable month-on-month growth rates and seemed to be recovering from its 2020 woes

View this article here. Half of all over-50s will still be in the workforce by 2030 as older workers increasingly delay retirement.   Hundreds of thousands of extra workers over the age of 50 will stay in work longer, either because they cannot afford to retire or because the rise of remote working improved flexibility. That is

View this article here. LifeSearch’s latest update to the Health Wealth & Happiness Index finds that employers are not listening to staff on how they wish to work. Just 15% of employees stated that their employer had sought their input or opinion on how they want to work going forward, whether that be in the

View this article here. The property market has been running at 1,000 miles per hour for more than a year. But in July the disappearance of stamp duty holiday savings triggered a drop in transactions to 22pc below normal levels.  Demand is calming, the end of the moratorium on mortgage repossessions has lifted, and high inflation is

View this article here. ondon’s workers are the least happy to return to the office full-time, despite more than 6 in 10 being unhappy with their current remote work set-up, says new research. More than half (57%) of those polled said they’d be happiest with a hybrid of working remotely and at their workplace. Meanwhile,

The last 18 months have seen a drastic uptick in redundancies, furloughed workers and economic inactivity – and although the labour market is on the mend, not everyone participates in the recovery equally.  Many elderly people have dropped out of the labour force which could pose a greater problem to the economic recovery than is

My former CBI colleague Andrew Sentence recently described central banks’ typical attitude to emerging inflation as initial denial that there is a problem, then suggesting it was ‘just a blip’, then admitting that there are inflationary pressures but that ‘they are only temporary’, before finally realising that inflation had in fact taken off, requiring urgent

View this article here. A data release from Eurostat today showed industrial production in the eurozone – referring to the 19 countries which have adopted the euro as their currency – marginally contracted by 0.3 percent month-on-month in June. The disappointing figures follow on from May’s one percent contraction. On an annual basis, June’s industrial output levels were up by 9.7

View this article here. Women’s retirement prospects and savings have been dragged down by the pandemic much more than men’s, widening the gap between their pensions pots by almost £200,000. On average, the difference between the average pensions of women and men aged over 55 widened to £184,000 in in the last year – up

View this article here. The gender pension gap for over-55s widened by 17 per cent (or £26,673) in 2020, as the “disproportionate” effects of Covid-19 took their toll on women’s finances. Last year the gender pension gap grew from £157,263 to £183,936, according to data published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research and equity

View this article here. Women’s pension pots shrunk by an average of £27,000 during the pandemic when compared to men’s, research shows. The ‘gender pension gap’ is now £183,936, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and equity release lender More2Life. Last year this was £157,263 – a £26,673 difference. Women have smaller pensions than men

View this article here. Research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) shows the gender pension gap has widened to more than £180,000 among people over 55. Men are anticipating an annual retirement income of £20,712, whereas women expect their income will be £14,964 in later life. Considering life expectancy, the gender pensions

View this article here. The divide between the size of men and women’s pensions has widened by £27,000 as a result of the pandemic, with women now facing working years later to enjoy the same retirement. Women’s pensions have become £183,936 smaller than men’s on average, according to a report by lender More2life and the Centre for Economics

View this article here. The pandemic has increased the gender pensions gap to almost £200,000, according to a new study. Research carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found women are missing out on £183,936 compared to the amount men receive from their pension. This is despite the fact women give a bigger proportion of income

View this article here. Anyone who has lived in London for more than a few months will have a jaundiced view of tourists. They crowd the pavements and the Tube, they form great queues outside museums and galleries, they book out restaurants and they seem to have a preternatural ability to wander aimlessly in a

View this article here. London will bear the brunt of an £11bn tourist spending shortfall caused by the UK’s travel restrictions, new research reveals.  The capital will miss out on £7bn given its dependency on overseas visitors, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). Total visitor spending in the second half of 2021

With most Covid-related restrictions lifted and the ‘pingdemic’ set to ease drastically on 16th August, as fully vaccinated individuals avoid having to isolate following contact with someone that tests positive, one of the final remaining frontiers in the fight for normality is international travel. The current rules for international travel generally depend on the colour

View this article here. Rapid transportation, easy communication, and minimizing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers between countries and regions are key to economic growth and prosperity. These measures lead to inclusive growth of the entire region by enabling all countries to reap fruits of their shared development and economic growth. It is, no doubt, a

View this article here. In the last month, China’s highly successful private tutoring companies and many of its top tech companies, including entertainment giant Tencent, online retailer AliBaba and ride hailing app Didi, have all fallen foul of new Chinese government regulations and faced sharp share price falls. Meanwhile the second-largest Chinese property company Evergrande, which

In the last month, China’s highly successful private tutoring companies and many of its top tech companies, including entertainment giant Tencent, online retailer AliBaba and ride hailing app Didi, have all fallen foul of new Chinese government regulations and faced sharp share price falls. Meanwhile the second-largest Chinese property company Evergrande, which has now broken

View this article here. The American economy is larger than it was before the pandemic thanks to huge stimulus efforts and widespread vaccination, but growth in the second quarter still failed to live up to analysts’ expectations. The US economy is enjoying a strong, consumer-led recovery thanks to the government’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package. Output is

View this article here. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a major issue worldwide, accounting for up to 1 in 5 wild-caught ocean fish every year. Now, with more States joining a treaty intended to stop IUU fishing, effective coordination across regional, national and international boundaries to fight this illicit activity grows ever more

View this article here. British food producers, retailers and transport companies descended into panic mode over the weekend as a surge in workers being forced to self-isolate hits suppliers across the country. Workplaces have seen a rush of absences after 1.7 million people were “pinged” as of last week by a National Health Service app that tells

View this article here. The U.K.’s economy could face a loss of more than 4.6 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) in just four weeks if rules on self-isolation following a “ping” from the NHS app aren’t relaxed, according to data from Centre for Economics and Business Research. Since July 19 “freedom day,” the surge of Covid cases in

View this article here. The U.K.’s economy could face a loss of more than 4.6 billion pounds ($6.3 billions) in just four weeks if rules on self-isolation following a “ping” from the NHS app aren’t relaxed, according to data from Centre for Economics and Business Research. Since July 19 “freedom day,” the surge of Covid

View this article here. The UK’s economy could face a loss of more than £4.6 billion ($6.3bn) in just four weeks if rules on self-isolation following a “ping” from the NHS app aren’t relaxed, according to data from the Centre for Economics and Business Research. Since the UK’s “Freedom Day” on July 19, a surge

View this article here. LONDON: British supermarkets and suppliers warned Thursday of possible food shortages due to staff self-isolating, as rising coronavirus cases threaten chaos after the government controversially eased all restrictions earlier this week. With millions of workers and school children currently forced to stay home under COVID-19 tracing rules — in what has been

View this article here. The recovery is being crippled by the “pingdemic” as experts put the cost of the economic damage from millions of self-isolating workers at almost £5bn. Private sector firms suffered their slowest growth since the economy began unlocking in April as a surge in self-isolating staff worsened existing recruitment difficulties and labour

With Covid-19 cases exploding in recent weeks, so has the number of self-isolation ‘pings’ received by unsuspecting individuals via the NHS COVID-19 app, asking them to isolate for 10 days. This has led to a headache for business owners, many of whom are only now getting their operations back to normal after months of restrictions.