Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds has said it will keep staff on notice of redundancy employed until at least October to ease employees’ concerns as the Covid-19 crisis continues to unfold.

The group had been on course to close 46 branches throughout the UK, including 15 Bank of Scotland outlets, between April and October of this year. However, it called a pause on restructuring layoffs as the pandemic took hold in the UK.

Lloyds originally said redundancies would come back under monthly review from the end of May, but it has now decided to delay job cuts until the fourth quarter to reassure its workforce.

“We have made a number of commitments to our colleagues to address their concerns during the current crisis, including continuing to pay them in full regardless of their working circumstances,” a spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency.

“We will continue to review these and other commitments to our colleagues on an on-going basis.”

‘Strong case’ for extending furlough beyond October for Scottish tourism

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop has said there is a "strong case" for extending the UK Government's furlough scheme beyond October for Scotland's key tourism and hospitality sector, as well as the oil and gas industry.

She made the plea as she warned parts of the country’s economy could be facing a double whammy, with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak potentially compounded by a no-deal Brexit.

The UK has until July 1 to apply for an extension to key negotiations with the European Union on future relationships and trading. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far maintained that the transition period will conclude as planned at the end of December 2020.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the job retention scheme until October, but announced last week that he expects businesses to start paying towards the cost of this. Firms with furloughed workers will have to start paying National Insurance and tax contributions for staff in August, ramping up to 10% of furloughed wages in September and 20% in October.

Ms Hyslop’s comments to Holyrood’s Economy Committee came as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned that the Scottish Government could be forced to divert resources away from dealing with Covid-19 to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

Retirement home developer to resume construction

Retirement home developer and operator McCarthy & Stone has said it will resume construction on its sites and reopen sales offices next week after seeing lower than average coronavirus cases across its residents.

The company said it has seen fewer cases of the virus within its 441 retirement communities "than has been seen within the general over-65s UK population". This was the result of “decisive actions” from mid-March to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its homeowners and staff after the outbreak spread.

McCarthy & Stone closed its sales offices and halted construction projects after the Government-mandated shutdown was announced. It said it will now restart its sales and building operations in England from Monday June 8 as lockdown restrictions there begin to ease.