Business and Economics

“Help from the Government throughout this crisis has often been haphazard – with constant U-turns, delays in policy changes and a lack of leadership."

According to the OECD the British economy is 9.6 per cent smaller than at the end of the third quarter in 2019.

“With many people’s finances already strained by the economic impact of coronavirus, households can ill-afford a significant rise in food prices."

One bank moved around 200 billion euros (£184 billion) of assets from London to Frankfurt.

The pay-out also came weeks before grocery demand soared due to customer stockpiling as coronavirus cases started to sharply rise across the UK.

"We have got the pandemic where people are hanging on by their fingertips in some areas. We have had four years to get a deal and, yes, businesses are cross.”

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) warned over a difficult year-end for the economy, with the December 31 Brexit deadline also looming large.

"The overwhelming view of the clients we support is they fear not being able to comply with the myriad of new regulations which could be coming down the line."

Around 25,000 retail jobs now hang in the balance.