Responding to our earlier correspondent's claim that his pension has fallen to 1990s levels, a financial adviser writes: "I have no idea what this person is invested in but absolutely no way should their pension have fallen to 1990s levels. We are at levels of around 2012-ish and if this person has been making regular contributions the pound-cost-averaging should smooth that out over the whole period."

He suggests that people getting close to retirement people should be looking at the 'lifestyling' approach to their pension.

"That involves maybe around 10 years to go, looking to move small portions into cash as you go through each year, which will safeguard certain amounts from this kind of market shock."

He reckons pension savers deserve no compensation.

"As everyone is always told, investments can go up as well as go down. Everyone is different and should always seek advice on these matters."

Food for thought there.

Image source, TRACY HUDSON

A seven-year-old boy has been delivering free toilet rolls to his elderly neighbours as panic-buying has seen some supermarket shelves emptied of household goods.

Jimmy-Dean Hudson, from Westcliff, near Southend, said he wanted to help people by spending his pocket money on the bathroom staple.

His mother Tracy Hudson said those he had helped were extremely grateful.

Jimmy said following the success he next planned to deliver milk and bread.

"He knows we have less toilet rolls around at the moment so he went to our local shop and bought 60 or 70 toilet rolls and then went out giving them to people down our road," Mrs Hudson said.

We're looking for more positive news stories to brighten up our day. Do let us know if you hear any good news. Write to bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

Image source, Funding Circle

Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle says it's busier than ever before.

Its revenue jumped 18% but losses hit £84.2m in 2019, up from £50.9m the year earlier on revenue of £167.4m.

"In 2019 we grew loans under management to a record £3.7bn, up 19% year on year," said boss said chief executive Samir Desai.

"The actions we took in 2019, in response to the uncertain economic outlook, reduced growth but improved investor returns and were the right response for the long-term benefit of the company and our customers."

US stocks have been in a much more positive mood today.

The S&P 500 is currently up 51.35 points or 2.15%, 2,437.48.

The Dow Jones index had a positive opening but has fallen back a bit now

It's at 20,211.15, up 22.63 points or 0.11%.

The Nasdaq is at 7,002.02, up 97.43 points, or 1.41%.

Image source, Getty Images

A London lock-down for a month could cost £10bn, reckons the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

"London’s output would fall by £495m per day for as long as it was imposed. Should it last a week, the economy could effectively lose £2.4bn in output. If lock-down was imposed for a month, this rises to £10.3bn," it warned, external.

But the actual cost would be much higher, it added.

"These numbers understate the true impact of a London lock- down, as they only account for London’s specific output without considering the interconnected nature of the UK economy, or measures in other major UK cities."

There's been some strong reaction to our pensions post.

Julz Angell agrees with our correspondent. "If the government bails out businesses, especially large ones such as the airlines and banks, but ignores individuals seriously affected, I predict another pandemic of social unrest and disturbance!"

Fardeen Sau has an interesting proposal: "The government should put in measures where the pension pots DO NOT DROP below the amount that has been paid into it."

That would be lovely wouldn't it, but given the nature of investments, an impractical notion.

But retired IFA Steve from Belfast has no sympathy with our correspondent's plight.

"The pension must have been invested in very poor-performing funds which he should have changed years ago - hardly the government's fault," Steve says.

"He also seems to ignore the fact that he presumably got tax relief on his contributions and the growth would have been even less if he hadn't.

He has 4.5 years to retirement - I'd expect stock markets to improve greatly during that time so his pension pot should recover IF it is invested properly going forward."

Some timely advice there. Keep your comments coming to bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

Image source, Getty Images

A funeral director says he expects a surged in demand for cremation services to be streamed online during the coronavirus outbreak.

Martin Rowley said he anticipates "a lot of interest" in the option after Boris Johnson urged people to avoid gatherings with friends and family.

Mr Rowley said his York-based business would waive the cost of showing services online.

The government has not yet ordered a stop to funerals, he said.

Image source, Getty Images

A serious issue has been raised by a Business Live reader who asked to remain anonymous.

What about pensions and savings and the impact on our personal future, he asks.

"I’m four and a bit years from the official retirement age but the last couple of weeks have seen the value of my personal pensions and retirement savings encouraged by successive Governments as provision for old age return to levels of 30+ (YES 30) years ago!

"Allowing for inflation I’m probably now little better off than I was in my early 20s.

"There's lots of talk of Government support for business, self-employed and just about any other group one can think of. But what of those like me that have paid our bills, avoided debt or borrowing and ‘gone without’ over the years in order to save for our retirement only to be rewarded by the loss of those savings at a time when we have neither the time nor resource to replace the loss?

"Where is the support for our group? Or are we to face the humiliation of living in relative poverty perhaps unable to afford the upkeep of our homes or the basics of life?"

Some crucial points there. Where do other readers think. Please send in your comments to bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

Food journalist Mark Taylor is calling on people to order take-out food deliveries where possible to help keep small, independent restaurants afloat.

He said: “The situation for Bristol restaurants is already looking dire, with high-profile places like Box-E, Tare and Marmo already announcing temporary closures. From what I'm already hearing, there will be many more similar announcements today.

"We are literally seeing the local restaurant scene crumbling in front of us. The reality is that the majority of places simply won't survive and the city could lose the majority of its restaurants if they don't get more help and support immediately.

“There is already talk of restaurants turning to a delivery-only model for the time being so people need to support such initiatives if they want to save their favourite local restaurants.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered people to stay at home and closed the country's land borders from 1200 (1100 GMT) on Tuesday.

He said the country was at war with an invisible, elusive enemy, and the measures were unprecedented, but circumstances demanded them.

Image source, Urbanberry

"We don't want the business to fail, we've worked really hard and we love it," says Emma Gregory, who - together with Caroline Wakil - has built Urbanberry into a £140,000-a-year business.

But since the coronavirus outbreak, all the interviews set up by the fledging travel recruitment firm have been cancelled.

"This is devastating for us, it means no income indefinitely and all the people we love helping are losing their jobs and we have nothing to offer them," Emma told the BBC.

They are just one of the millions of small firms trying to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

read more

Image source, Getty Images

Let's have a look at the markets. The FTSE 100 is holding steady above the 5,000 level.

It's at 5,070.50, a fall of 80.58 points or 1.56% on the day.

The wider FTSE250 index is quite a lot worse off.

It's at 13,783.50, a fall of 566.25 points or 3.95%.

Image source, PA Media

All horse racing in the United Kingdom will be suspended from Wednesday until the end of April because of the coronavirus outbreak.

On Monday, it was announced that racing would continue behind closed doors, although the Grand National meeting was cancelled.

Tuesday's meetings at Wetherby and Taunton go ahead without spectators.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said the decision will be kept under "constant review".

Nick Rust, the chief executive of the BHA, said: "This is a national emergency the like of which most of us have never seen before.

"We're a sport that is proud of its connection to rural communities and to the local businesses that support our industry. But our first duty is to the health of the public, our customers and to racing industry participants and staff so we have decided to suspend racing following the government's latest advice."

Image source, Getty Images

Most businesses do not have insurance cover to compensate them for coronavirus losses, a trade body and other experts have said.

Small businesses, in particular, are unlikely to have such a policy.

Business interruption cover is generally sold to compensate for damage to premises, following instances such as fire and flood.

The Association of British Insurers said standard policies did not include forced closure by the authorities.

So, for most businesses, they would not have been entitled to compensation, even if the government had ordered them to close.

A spokeswoman for the association said: "Irrespective of whether or not the government order closure of a business, the vast majority of firms won't have purchased cover that will enable them to claim on their insurance to compensate for their business being closed by the coronavirus."

Image source, Getty Images

Fiat Chrysler has resumed limited production at its Atessa facility in Italy, the carmaker's only open assembly factory, having halted operations at most of its European factories.

The company halted production for two weeks at most of its European plants to help to protect staff and adjust to a slump in demand.

The Atessa plant had been closed since last week as the company performed deep sanitisation and some reconfiguration of production lines to allow more space between workers.

"Operations have restarted with the number of workers reduced by around 45%," the company said.

The plant usually produces about 300,000 light commercial vehicles annually.

Image source, Getty Images

Laura Ashley's collapse blamed on the coronavirus outbreak is unlikely to be the last retailer to go bust because of this crisis, warned Neil Wilson of Markets.com.

"It looks to be the first domino to go," he said. "It's a classic case of being able to service high debt loads when cash flow remains steady but as soon as the revenues dry up, the debt crushes you whatever interest rate you may be able to get. It highlights the very real limitation in monetary policy right now - debt is about cashflow, not interest rates, for businesses."

He said given the current equity and credit market conditions, it's not a surprise to see some weaker players that already require additional funds go under when cashflow is about to be decimated by coronavirus lockdowns.

"The key question this raises is to what extent we will see further high street losses because of the coronavirus."

Leo Kelion
Technology desk editor

Image source, Getty Images

The UK's mobile networks are experiencing problems with their services.

EE told the BBC it is something "that is affecting all operators and we are working closely to fix it".

The problem is being blamed on "interconnect issues" stemming from one operator, O2.

"We don't believe it is connected to the rise in home working [due to the coronavirus]," added EE.

O2 has posted on its website that some customers are experiencing issues with its voice service.

Telling people to stay away from pubs, restaurants and theatres is "creating a catastrophic period of uncertainty" for the hospitality sector, Manchester's night time economy adviser says.

The government urged customers to stay away to avoid unnecessary social contacts amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Sacha Lord said the move is "crippling" and asked businesses to adapt and offer deliveries or takeaways if possible.

But one Oldham-based pub chain said it will keep pubs open despite the advice.

William Lees-Jones, the managing director of JW Lees, said: "People want to come into pubs and they want to see people.

"As long as we can do that responsibly, then we think we are doing the right thing."

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile the hospitality industry is warning businesses could go under within weeks if they do not receive government help.

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association says bars will quickly be hit with devastating cash-flow problems.

Spokesman Paul Waterson told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that the UK and Scottish governments need to send out "clear, definite messages" to the public.

He said: "You can't say pubs have to stay open, then tell people not to come into them.

"To leave it up to us (the industry) to decide when we are in a very, very difficult situation is just wrong."

Image source, Getty Images

Cinema chains Odeon, Cineworld and Picturehouse have announced they are shutting all their UK screens amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Cinema UK, which represents the industry, said "most UK cinema sites" would close in the coming days following the government advice.

Theatres in London's West End and around the UK have already closed, and many concerts have been called off.

Cinema UK said: "The priority now is to ensure that thousands working in the sector are helped during an exceptionally challenging period for them, and that UK cinema venues are supported during what, for many, represents an unprecedented challenge to their existence."