Unite says it has agreed a package with engineering giant Rolls-Royce to financially protect the company's 20,000 UK workforce during the coronavirus emergency.

The union said the agreement includes a 10% pay "delay" from April - effectively a pay cut - which will be paid back in a year's time.

Rolls-Royce has plants in Derby, Bristol, Glasgow and Barnoldswick, Lancashire.

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Unite regional officer Tony Tinley, said: "Throughout the constructive talks with management, Unite has adopted a three-pronged approach - the vital importance of health and safety, protecting the jobs and incomes of our members in the short-term and securing the long-term employment future of our members and the prosperity of the company.

"Airplanes are still flying, bringing in medicines and other supplies, so there is a current demand for Rolls-Royce's superb products.

"What we have achieved at Rolls-Royce is a template that other companies could follow in terms of workers' incomes and safety protections.

"We want to work constructively with aerospace companies across the region so when this emergency ends there is a strong platform to make the most of the aerospace engineering opportunities that will be available as the global economy recovers."

Unite regional secretary for the East Midlands Paresh Patel added: "Rolls-Royce is the jewel in the East Midlands manufacturing crown and we need to secure the future of the aerospace sector within the regional economy and beyond.

"We have also to safeguard the supply chain, employing thousands of workers, which is heavily reliant on Rolls-Royce.
"Unite continues to make the case to government of the importance of the UK's manufacturing base and the need to protect firms and their workforces at this exceptionally difficult time for the economy."

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has said it will make advance payments to subcontractors as part of a £5 million scheme aimed to prop up self-employed workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The construction business said its "Pay It Forward" scheme will cover work to be completed in the future by independent contractors.

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It said it hopes the scheme will benefit tradespeople waiting for government financial aid or who do not qualify for financial support.

Pete Redfearn, chief executive of the company, said it is resilient and able to support its partners because the business has been managed in a "conservative and cautious way in recent years".

Taylor Wimpey said the payments will only be made to contractors who have a long-standing relationship with the business.

The housebuilder said that many of its subcontractor partners were unable to continue trading after the 2008 financial crisis and hoped this move may help to keep workers afloat.

Mr Redfearn said: "Our community of suppliers, subcontractors and self-employed tradespeople that we work with is very important to us and to our ability to provide high quality homes for our customers.

"Supporting those we rely on is not only the right thing to do but will help ensure we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic in the best possible place with our community of tradespeople ready to help us resume the building of much needed high quality homes for our customers, when we are all in a position to do so."

It said the scheme was piloted last week and will launch in full this week, with the funding expected to support around 2,750 individuals.

Shares in the company were up 1.2% at 128.7p on Wednesday.

Regional cinemas around the UK are giving film fans the chance to access a wide variety of British and global content through the British Film Institute's streaming service while their venues are closed to the public.

BFI Player has teamed up with regional cinemas including Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, the Glasgow Film Theatre, Home Manchester, the Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast, Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle and Watershed in Bristol to offer their audiences curated programmes.

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The partnership will give regional audiences a four-week free trial of BFI Player's subscription service, with a collection recommended especially for them by their local cinema.

Ben Luxford, head of UK Audiences at the BFI, said: "Everyone is feeling the impact of this crisis and we wanted to find a way to ensure audiences across the UK could still feel connected to their venues, and continue to discover a brilliant selection of films.

"BFI Player is fantastic, so an exclusive extended free trial is always great news, but what makes this offer to audiences really special, is their local venue programmers expertly creating collections of features and archive content especially for them."

The free trial, which can be up to six weeks if users combine the Player's standard 14-day trial plus an additional four weeks through these new partnerships, gives audiences full access to the BFI's subscription streaming service collection of new releases and classics.

It also includes collections curated by industry figures such as actress Tilda Swinton and critic Mark Kermode.

Jason Wood, Creative Director of film and culture at Home in Manchester, said: "The Home film team were able to curate a short selection which was an almost impossible task given the breadth and diversity of the titles available through the Player.

"I can vouch for the fact that our audiences have really appreciated being able to maintain access to a wider and deeper cinema culture.

"Partnerships keep the cinema flame alive and help to ensure that it is still burning in what will hopefully soon be a post-Covid-19 landscape."