Plans by City banks to bring thousands of workers back to the office are in disarray after Boris Johnson postponed a lifting of lockdown restrictions. Guidelines encouraging people to “continue to work from home if you can” in England were due to be dropped on 21 June, but that move will now be delayed by four weeks. – Guardian
Business groups have warned that pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs face significant hardship or collapse after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in England was postponed for four weeks without new financial support from the government. Full reopening without measures such as social distancing will not be allowed until 19 July, Boris Johnson said on Monday, with a review in two weeks’ time “unlikely” to result in an earlier relaxation. – Guardian
The owners of Stobart Air are in talks to secure £120m of emergency funding after being left on the hook for aircraft lease payments worth tens of millions of pounds. Esken, the London-listed conglomerate formally known as Stobart Group, is closing in on a deal to sell a 30pc interest in Southend Airport to buyout fund Carlyle. – Telegraph
Vodafone has selected a group of largely American and Asian suppliers to power its next-generation mobile network as the industry prepares for the ban on Huawei. The telecoms operator has awarded a contract to Samsung Electronics, NEC, Dell and Wind River to build the first open radio access network in Europe. The deal boosts the emergence of alternative suppliers to compete with Ericsson and Nokia, the Scandinavian groups that, along with the Chinese company, have dominated the equipment market for a decade. – The Times
The chief executive of Rolls-Royce has described the engine-maker’s workforce as “frankly a bit too old”. Warren East’s comments at an industry conference have drawn criticism in an era of workforce inclusivity and for appearing to indicate that he was blaming ageing Rolls’ workers for the company’s struggles. – The Times
