The IHS Markit UK Household Finance Index, which measures households' perceptions of their financial wellbeing, plummeted to a reading of 34.9 in April from 42.5 in March.

Sir Vince Cable, who led the privatisation of Royal Mail in 2013, said a reduction to executive pay was the socially-responsible thing to do after bosses axed the dividend last month.

Unprecedented is a word that can often be badly used but it is appropriate when it comes to the current conditions in the oil market.

Paula Nickolds (pictured), the former MD of John Lewis's stores, received £940,000 while Rob Collins, former MD of Waitrose, was handed £890,000.

Brent crude, which is extracted from the North Sea and serves as an international benchmark, fell to $18.10 a barrel.

Online supermarket Ocado removed 11,087 promotions and hiked the base price of 918 products between March 4 and April 8. Founder and chief exec Tim Steiner's stake is worth some £480m

On a day of wild swings on global markets, brent crude briefly fell below $16 a barrel - the lowest level this century. It later recovered, surging 10 per cent to more than $21 last night.

The Hiscox Action Group, representing more than 180 firms says the insurer has issued 'blanket' rejections, knocking back thousands of legitimate claims.

On Monday evening, the value of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, or Texas Light Sweet, declined to an unprecedented MINUS $40.32. It was the blackest of days for black gold.

Councils have handed out £6.1bn, almost half the £12.3bn they received from Government this month. Grants of up to £25,000 have been received by 491,725 small businesses

Taylor Wimpey was the top riser on the FTSE 100 after it said it was still selling homes virtually, adding its order book was at £2.7bn at the end of last week, up from £2.4bn the same time last year.

While 38,186 firms have applied for a Government-backed loan through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme, just 16,624 have been approved by High Street banks.

The online food delivery firm's merger got the go-ahead from the Competition and Markets Authority, who was 'satisfied there are no competition concerns' after its probe of the deal.

Chief exec Alan Jope said he expects the pandemic to prompt lasting changes in behaviour, with strong demand for cleaning products set to continue while the dining industry could face a slow recovery.

From the market low on 18 March to the start of the Easter weekend on 9 April, junior market-listed firms announced over £500million of funding.

The British fashion stalwart said a third of its workers would remain at home on full pay, without a penny being billed to the taxpayer, while bosses have taken a 20 per cent pay cut.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said households are saddled with £8,000 of non-mortgage debts, totalling £230 billion across the UK. And the coronavirus pandemic means incomes are falling.

McLaren, based at a plush factory in Surrey designed by renowned British architect Norman Foster, is also talking to third parties about further boosting its working capital.

Steve Eisman told investors last week that the Neuberger Berman Absolute Alpha Fund had dropped nearly 5 per cent in March as the Covid-19 crisis took hold.

Pete Redfern, the chief executive of FTSE 100 firm Taylor Wimpey, has broken ranks with rival bosses to push the Government to outline a plan to end lockdown.

The bank wants to discourage 'non-essential' customer visits after some of its staff complained in a union survey that irate members of the public had spat on them.

Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of industry body Airlines UK, wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, saying that carriers will face a 'renewed cash crisis' if the job support scheme is withdrawn.

Less money has been lent under the Business Interruption Loan Scheme than in Switzerland and Germany because the application process is too complex, the TaxPayers' Alliance said.

Chief executive Guillaume Faury told the plane maker's 135,000 staff to brace for a major shake-up and potentially sweeping job cuts to slash costs.

Though it is one of the largest lenders to small and medium-sized firms, it has only approved a tiny percentage of loans made under the Government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

The Investment Association said firms will need 'to take account of their individual circumstances particularly considering the impact on their stakeholders' when deciding executive pay.

Novacyt has inked a deal with the Department of Health to provide it with 288,000 tests a week. And Omega Diagnostics has made fresh strides in the race to roll out antibody tests.

Treasury officials and the City watchdog expressed concern after it emerged a company is charging £500 upfront, then a percentage of the value of the loan if the application is successful.

James Benamor says Amigo was committing 'slow-motion suicide' by making 'irresponsible' loans and failing to alert shareholders to the potential cost of complaints.

On another bleak day for the sector, Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury predicted it could take 'three to five years' for passengers to be as willing to fly as before the crisis.

The US social media group said 14m more users are using its platform every day compared to a year ago, taking the total number to 166m.

The pandemic could result in 257,000 fewer vehicles rolling off production lines this year, after output plunged by almost 38 per cent last month, an industry report predicted.

Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, has been closed since March 24 as part of a government clampdown, requiring people to stay indoors to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The bank, led by chief exec Antonio Horta-Osori (pictured), which is the UK's biggest mortgage provider and one of the largest lenders to small businesses, has handed out just.

The billionaire, 48, made the comment yesterday in a string of tweets that also saw him reveal he was selling all of his possessions and demand that authorities give people back 'their freedom'.

Deloitte's survey of 104 finance chiefs found that 84 per cent were less optimistic about prospects, compared with 47 per cent three months ago - the survey's biggest drop in confidence on record.

More than 300 listed companies have cut or cancelled payouts as they battle to survive. It is now feared that total dividend payments will fall from £98.5 billion last year to just £47.2 billion this year.

In an indictment of the failure of the Government's original aid schemes to help many businesses, lenders received tens of thousands of applications for the new 'Bounce Back' loans within hours.

The US fashion brand's lenders will inject £322m of cash and take control of the chain at the same time as cancelling its debt. The preppy brand counts Meghan Markle among its high profile fans.

Carnival has been asked to give all the documents relating to the pandemic and its response to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

William Hill is benefiting to the tune of over £30m per month from the wage subsidy scheme and the business rates holiday, while Paddy Power is saving £400,000 per month in business rates.

The insurance giant said it would sell up to 58m shares, which at last night's price of 692.4p would be worth £400m, collecting the money so it could 'respond to future growth opportunities'.

Chief executive Philip Jansen, who recently recovered from Covid-19, said a new target of full fibre to 20 million homes by the mid to late 2020s is now in place.

The products and services provided by the big tech firms are deeply embedded in the lives of individuals and the business practices of companies.

The anti-viral solution leaves a protective layer that bonds to the surface, creating a safer environment in shared spaces such as restaurants, bars and shops.

The electric car maker has clocked up a six-month period with an average market capitalisation of $100bn (£81bn), the main requirement for Musk to receive the first payout under a reward scheme.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey (pictured) has put pressure on banks to ramp up lending as the central bank predicted the economy would shrink by 30 per cent in the first half of the year.

From temperature tests on arrival to face masks and two-metre distancing, this is the first glimpse of how manufacturing in Britain could look in the wake of the lockdown.

In a sign of the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on business, the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy hit 14.7 per cent last month.

A global oil glut has forced Shell to cut its quarterly dividend by 66 per cent, a move that leaves millions of investors as well as savers in pensions and equity income funds suddenly poorer.