Oil price collapses

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Cheap oil, anyone?

The price of oil has dropped to its lowest in 18 years. Why? We don’t need as much of it at the moment, as industries are shut down and transport is stripped back to essential journeys. With less demand for oil, there’s also a growing concern that producers could run out places to store surplus oil while they wait for things to pick up again.

Easyjet grounded

In a neat demonstration of the reason the oil price is being hammered, Easyjet has announced it’s suspending all commercial flights. In a bid to cut costs and survive the pandemic, the airline has grounded its fleet and put its cabin crew on the government’s job retention scheme which pays 80% of their wages. However, it has said it will continue running rescue flights to bring back Brits who are stranded abroad.

NHS staff return

20,000 former NHS staff have come out of retirement to help bolster health services in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. That’s on top of the 750,000 members of the public who’ve volunteered to help out.

Plastic-free construction?

The construction industry generates 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, making it the second-worst offender in the UK after packaging. One builder has launched a campaign to get construction to go plastic-free by 2040. His strategy? Petition large pension fund providers, which provide finance to the building trade, to adopt his plastic-free charter.