7:48 am, September 6, 2020
- Here are the business, motoring and news headlines for Sunday, September 6
New restrictions for Bolton
Tougher measures have been introduced in Bolton following a spike in coronavirus cases.
Bolton Council said the new restrictions aim to prevent a local lockdown, after the town’s infection rate increased to 99 cases per 100,000 people per week – the highest in England.
Bolton Council said yesterday it was introducing tougher measures ‘with immediate effect’, with people asked not to mix with other households in any setting, either indoors or outdoors, and to only use public transport for essential purposes.
Daily confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK. See story HEALTH Coronavirus. Infographic PA Graphics. An editable version of this graphic is available if required. Please contact [email protected].
Leeds leader calls for increased powers to stem Covid-19 rise
The leader of a city added to the government’s Covid-19 watchlist has called for the council to be granted greater powers to intervene in order to stem the spread of the virus.
Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said ‘personal contact’ with local people would be more effective in convincing them to self-isolate than the centralised over-the-phone NHS Test and Trace system has been.
Leeds, along with South Tyneside, Corby, Middlesbrough and Kettering, was added on Friday to the list of areas which ministers are concerned about.
Volta Zero is the first electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle
Start-up electric vehicle manufacturer Volta Trucks has revealed the Zero, an electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle designed for parcel and freight distribution in city centres.
The electric motor uses a new ‘e-Axle’ set-up to power the rear wheels, rather than the traditional driveshaft.
Batteries are offered in 160 to 200kWh capacity, with lithium iron phosphate batteries used in place of the nickel cobalt manganese.
UK ‘ready for any eventuality’ over EU trade deal negotiations
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted the UK will ‘prosper mightily’ regardless of the outcome of EU trade deal negotiations after haulage bosses warned of ‘significant gaps’ in border preparations.
Eight logistics organisations, including the Road Haulage Association (RHA), have written to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to highlight their concerns that the UK-EU supply chain ‘will be severely disrupted’ next year if issues are not resolved before the end of the Brexit transition period.
The group has requested a round-table meeting with Gove, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to discuss areas including IT systems and physical border infrastructure.
More people travelling to work
There has been an increase in people travelling to work in the last two months, with fewer working exclusively from home, a survey suggests.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 57 per cent of working adults reported that they had travelled to work – either exclusively or in combination with working from home – in the past seven days, while 20 per cent had worked solely from home.
The findings show an increase from the results of an ONS survey in the last week of June when 49 per cent of working adults said they had travelled in to work, and 29 per cent said they had worked exclusively at home.
Co-op to open new stores and create jobs
The Co-op is to open or extend 65 stores in the coming months under a multi-million pound investment programme which will create up to 1,000 new jobs.
More than 100 outlets will also receive major makeovers as part of a £130m programme for its stores.
The new jobs are in addition to the 1,000 permanent roles that came from temporary jobs created during the economic lockdown.
Pret A Manger launches monthly subscription service
Pret A Manger has launched an in-store subscription service for customers to pay for the coffee they order each month as part of a major shift in the company’s model.
The coffee and sandwich shop chain is launching the YourPret Barista service which will allow customers to buy up to five drinks each day for a month on a £20 monthly subscription.
The offer – which could add up to 150 drinks a month – will cover all barista-made coffees as well as teas, hot chocolates, smoothies and frappe drinks.
Petrol and diesel Vauxhall Mokka variants detailed
Vauxhall has detailed the petrol- and diesel-powered versions of its new Mokka, following the electric version’s unveiling in June.
Sporting similarly radical styling, the new internal combustion engine versions are said to bring an ‘ideal balance between efficiency and performance’.
There’s a single 1.2-litre turbocharged unit petrol engine that’s available in two power outputs of 99bhp and 128bhp and a 1.5-litre diesel with 109bhp.
Mostly dry and bright
It will be a largely cloudy start for most with a scattering of showers, some heavy, says the BBC. As the day goes on, showers will become largely confined to central eastern England, with sunny spells developing elsewhere.
Tonight, scattered showers will clear to the east to leave many areas dry with clear spells overnight. Cloud will build into Scotland and Northern Ireland, with a band of rain pushing in during the early hours.
Tomorrow will see a cloudy start in the north with some spells of rain, which will gradually ease. It will be dry and bright at first in the south and east, but cloud will build in through the day.
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