Timbuk3

Dirty Desmond used to own Northern & Shell , who are also responsible for bringing us Razzle, Readers Wives & Live TV (the one with topless weather and dwarf tossing). Guess he's moved on to property speculation as way to improve himself!!

Which company ?

BL portfolio down 26.1% , that would mean the councils are also having to re-value their portfolios for a similar amount. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-british-land-results/british-land-posts-1-1-billion-loss-as-covid-19-hammers-retail-idUKKBN2330PR?il=0

Value of the property portfolio is marked down by 26.1%. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-british-land-results/british-land-posts-1-1-billion-loss-as-covid-19-hammers-retail-idUKKBN2330PR?il=0

Meanwhile, in America..... https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/05/21/coronavirus-mortgage-delinquencies-surge-1-6-m-april/5231835002/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/business/goldman-sachs-mortgage-foreclosure.html

900 'office' jobs to go at Clarks - I'm surprised that they have that many. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-8344331/Loss-making-shoe-seller-Clarks-announces-scrapping-900-office-jobs.html

450 jobs going at Specsavers. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/business/450-jobs-cut-specsavers-due-covid-19-business-downturn-2858508

That might be the case but the banks have probably hedged the debt using a collateralised debt swap on which they can claim if the company goes under, so they win either way.

No openings for windows anymore

Another British icon goes under. No one travelling, no need for luggage. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-antler/british-luggage-brand-antler-collapses-as-pandemic-hits-travel-idUKKBN22V16F?il=0

Classic Kitchen sinking, chucking out all your bad news at once. Good opportunity to cut head count. Noticed this is a Guardian article on the latest unemployment claims "The first official attempts to gauge the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis also revealed the number of employees on company payrolls plunged by 450,000 at the start of April, in a reflection of staff being let go and reduced hiring. The number of vacancies posted by companies looking for new staff also halved."" 450,00 people permanently laid off, not all will have a mortgage but some of them will definitely will now be struggling to pay it.

6,000 jobs on the line at Bella Italia, 2,600 jobs at OVO Energy. Unemployment claims jump by record amount, and we haven't even got off the furlough scheme yet. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-52714205?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business&link_location=live-reporting-story https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52713791?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business&link_location=live-reporting-story

Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge owner lining up administration. https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-52713791 Dining out has to be one of the last areas to recover, if at all.

Agree with your thinking. And I think this article about JCB proves the point that companies are now looking at reduced demand for their goods and are reducing workforce accordingly. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/15/nearly-1500-jcb-jobs-at-risk-as-demand-for-machines-halves

Spotted this today, and this is only up to end of March, expect it only got worse since then. Not sure what forbearance they are referring to at the banks, payment holidays I expect. The number of mortgages in arrears crept up during the first three months of 2020, in what appears to be early signs of the impact Covid-19 is having on personal finances. The PA Media news agency reports that 72,380 homeowner mortgages were in arrears of 2.5% or more of the outstanding balance in the first quarter of 2020, up from 70,880 in the fourth quarter of 2019. The figures from a UK Finance report show there were 4,420 mortgages in arrears in the buy-to-let sector, up slightly from 4,390 the previous quarter. Mortgage arrears levels for both homeowners and landlords were lower when compared with the first quarter of 2019, and they remain low by long-term comparisons. The report said: