All the indicators point toward a sweet and sour year for start-ups. While UK tech startups raised €5.3 billion in venture capital funding between January and May 2020, similar to in 2019, the optimism appears to be subsiding in the second half of the year.
Chart of the Week
According to the Bank of England, the availability of mortgages declined dramatically in the three months ending May 2020 – implying a bigger credit squeeze than in the worst three-month period of the global financial crisis.
Chart of the Week
Wayne Rooney decried that ‘[If] Manchester United or Man City need 30 per cent of their players’ wages to survive… then football is in a far worse position than any of us imagined.’.
On the state of UK Business Closures
13.5% of all UK businesses have temporarily closed or paused trading, during the lockdown, with 86.4% of workers in these businesses on furlough.
Covid 19, Alcohol Use and Mental Health
Pre-pandemic research found heightened risk from working under certain conditions such as in isolation away from friends and family; extended or shift-pattern working hours, in dangerous environments, under inadequate supervision or at risk from organisational change (restructure/redundancy)- a list that makes clear what may be driving this Covid related increase in consumption.
Covid 19: Effect on Job Vacancies by Sector
Those in lower-earning jobs offering £15-£25 thousand per annum (less than London Living Wage) are worst affected. Higher paid jobs’ greater likeliness to be conducted from home is partly reflected in the far lower reduction in available positions.