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.

There are mounting calls for super-rich fat cat executives to play a bigger part in shouldering the financial burden stemming from the crisis, which will end up hitting taxpayers hard in the pocket.

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.

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.

Paracelsus Recovery said the rise in requests was mostly from high-flying businessmen who were struggling to adapt to their new style of life.

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.

Royal Mail is poised to benefit from the new reliance on web sales. Citigroup Analysts bestowed a rare double upgrade on the 504-year-old postal service, moving it from 'sell' to 'buy'.

Grocers have hired an army of 110,000 temporary staff to meet rising demand. Tesco is now delivering to more than a million people every week, an increase of 400,000 weekly delivery slots.

Just a day after arch-rival Airbus said it was 'bleeding cash' and may not survive, Boeing boss David Calhoun said: 'It is difficult to estimate when the situation will stabilise.'

Think-tank Reform is calling on Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor (pictured), to let businesses bring back employees on reduced hours but still receive some state support as lockdown is lifted.

Many had been worried BP would have to cut or axe the payout after oil prices began tanking in late January. But the energy giant has raised the amount it will give to shareholders.

Chief exec Steve Rowe (pictured) will still take his full £810,000 salary plus bonuses this year despite asking long-suffering savers and the taxpayer to prop up the ailing business.

Firms are accusing each other of 'profiteering' from the pandemic. An estate agency in the Lake District sparked a debate after it said it had completed a viewing on a £1.25m home.

Bosses at the company's owner, Barings Asia, are withholding the severance payment. Instead staff have been been told to apply for government handouts.

The group, which has scrapped its dividend for shareholders and furloughed 16,500 staff, saw its share price jump over 19 per cent earlier today.

Dubai-based DP World says P&O needs the emergency cash to avoid collapse during the virus crisis.

Over the last 17 years Rolls (pictured) and his business partner, chief exec Tim Warrillow , have transformed the market for tonic waters - and created a stock market darling.

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.

Glaxosmithkline, led by Emma Walmsley (pictured) and Astrazeneca both revealed a surge in first-quarter sales. Walmsley warned vaccines are not likely to become available for more than a year.

Amazon is expected to report profits of more than £7500 a second, meaning founder Jeff Bezos (pictured with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez) has added billions of dollars to his personal fortune.

Shareholders are to receive around a two-thirds cut in their dividend payments covering the last three months of 2019, from 47 cents per share to 16 cents.

Last year Shell was the most generous dividend payer in the UK, handing pension funds and investors £11.6bn.That amounted to 15.5 per cent of all payments made by FTSE 100 firms.

Stephen Lansdown found the company's stock was so sought after that, when he launched his latest sale of shares, he had to increase the amount up for grabs twice.

The fast food business's 1,350 restaurants have been closed since the Government brought in lockdown measures in March due to concerns over staff and customer safety.

Insurers have come under fire for refusing to pay out claims to companies which have been devastated by the lockdown. The Financial Conduct Authority plans to resolve this as quickly as possible.

The Cambridge-based software firm will create a 'strategy' title based on the hugely successful fantasy series that will be released on computer and game consoles such as Xbox and Playstation.

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.

Sunweb is said to have initially offered customers a full refund by March 31 after Tomorrowland Winter at the French resort Alpe d'Huez, was called off because of the coronavirus.

The IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index gave a reading of 33.4 in April - significantly below the 50 mark which indicates activity was flat.

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

The tie-up would transform the telecoms market overnight, creating a powerhouse to challenge former state monopoly BT.

The former FTSE 100 hospitals provider crashed into administration after a series of extraordinary revelations, including that it was harbouring billions of pounds in secret debt.

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.

Virgin blamed the 'severe impact' of coronavirus, which has prompted travel restrictions and forced airlines to ground fleets, and it comes just days after BA said it could also leave.

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'.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is looking at claims from 12,000 savers who bought so-called mini bonds from LCF and were left high and dry when the company collapsed.

The British telecoms giant has long been seen as a potential suitor for broadband provider Virgin after it previously held unsuccessful takeover talks with parent Liberty Global.

Serial investor Vin Murria, an adviser at Hgcapital, bought 13.25 per cent of the AIM-listed company's shares on April 30, according to a stock market announcement yesterday.

Vue boss Tim Richards is 'hopeful' that venues can be open in time for the release date of Nolan's new film, Tenet (starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, pictured) on July 17.

The online grocer awarded a £58m pay packet to chief executive Tim Steiner last year, and will give him a bonus of up to £100m over five years if its share price continues to rise.

The group admitted that around 12,000 of its credit card customers, or 1.2 per cent, were already seriously in arrears by three months or more before the pandemic.

The grocer said its decision to stop people ordering bottled mineral water helped it complete 6,000 extra orders a week.

The Lloyd's of London insurer was a top FTSE 250 riser after placing the 57.6m shares, priced at 650p. This was 6 per cent cheaper than its share price the day before the fundraising launched.

Just hours after the online grocer revealed sales have jumped more than 40 per cent in the last five weeks, it emerged that 29.7 per cent of investors had voted against top pay at the company.

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.

FTSE 100 closed up 1.4 per cent or 82.22 points at 5,935.98 and the pound was at $1.23 against the dollar.

The FTSE-listed group will struggle after the number of hours its engines spent flying in April fell by 90 per cent. Across the first four months of the year, flying hours dropped 40 per cent.

Does it really make sense for pensioners who, directly or indirectly, rely on their income from dividends to have those incomes further cut by Bank of England diktat?

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