A number of charities reported significant drops in income as a funding hole of £4 billion was identified, as fund-raising events were cancelled.

[1][2] Several individuals and groups began to raise funds for charitable organisations working to support those affected by the pandemic.

[4][5] The London Marathon, the world's biggest annual one-day fundraising event, was postponed from its April slot until October 2020.

[8] Children in Need and Comic Relief announced their first joint initiative, The Big Night In, a telethon broadcast on 23 April.

£370 million of the money was set aside to support small, local charities working with vulnerable people, and was allocated to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the following breakdown On 27 April Christian Aid advised that its annual fundraising week would go ahead through 10–16 May but without door-to-door envelope delivery and collection and the holding of associated face-to-face fundraising events in favour of encouraging online donations.

[16] Confusion about what constituted essential work, along with contractors' enforcement of subcontractors' contractual obligations, meant some projects remained operational, and many site workers experienced highly variable application of social distancing precautions[17] (some projects were temporarily halted after workers breached social distancing rules).

[19] Major contractors including Mace, McAlpine, Laing O'Rourke, Wates and Morgan Sindall each put hundreds of workers on furlough.

[37] In August, after site working resumed more quickly than expected after lockdown, the CPA forecast construction output would fall by 20.6% in 2020.

[40] While some larger sites—for example, the £9bn Battersea Power Station redevelopment which had 4,000 workers prior to the lock-down—remained closed,[41] almost 70% of sites in England and Wales operated by 36 Build UK major contractor members were working in late April,[42] rising to 86% on 20 May.

[43] Trade union Unite called for the Health and Safety Executive to increase visits to police social distancing on sites.

[54] Housebuilders including Barratt,[55] Taylor Wimpey,[56] Vistry,[57] Persimmon,[58] Redrow[59] and Bellway[60] planned to deploy safe working procedures and reopen sites in late April and early May.

[65] In early March, The Guardian reported that British supermarkets and their suppliers had developed plans to ensure adequate food supplies in case of panic buying.

[80] On 8 April Tesco said it could not meet the increased demand for online shopping despite expanding its home delivery service, and 85–90% of food would need to be bought in store.

The ratings agency believed the UK's government deficit for 2020 might equal 9% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 2% the previous year.

[88] The Bank of England forecasted, on 7 May, that this would turn into the UK's worst recession since the "Great Frost" over 300 years ago.

In addition the employment rate fell to 3.9% for the first quarter of the year; this period included the first week of lockdown according to ONS figure.

[93] The Resolution Foundation surveyed 6,000 workers, and concluded that 30% of those in the lowest income bracket had been affected by the pandemic compared with 10% of those in the top fifth of earners.

[95] Earlier research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded that young people (those under 25) and women were more likely to be working in a shutdown business sector.

[99] On 25 November 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered a Spending Review which revealed that the United Kingdom will face the worst slump in 300 years due to the impact of COVID-19.

[102] A June 2020 ONS survey showed that, in the first half of May, the accommodation and food services sector had the largest proportion of the workforce furloughed, at 83%.

IHG occupancy levels fell to historic lows in the first quarter with revenue per available room down 55% in March 2020 compared with 2019, and expected to drop to 80% in April.

[118] On 18 May, Casual Dining Group (CDG), owner of about 250 Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas restaurants, said it was preparing to call in administrators, potentially putting 6,000 jobs at risk.

[123] SSP Group announced it was cutting 5,000 UK jobs across its chains, including Upper Crust and Caffè Ritazza, as part of a restructuring aimed at keeping the company afloat.

[124] On 2 July 2020, CDG announced the group had been placed into administration, with 91 outlets set to close with the loss of 1,900 jobs.

[125] On 17 July, Azzurri Group, owner of the Zizzi and ASK Italian chains, announced the closure of 75 restaurants with the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.

[127] Following the late March introduction of lockdown restrictions, UK road traffic volumes dropped to levels last experienced in the 1950s, with corresponding falls in air and noise pollution.

[157][158] Due to a huge decline in fares income, on 7 May TfL requested £2 billion in state aid to keep services running until September 2020.

[159] on 12 May, TfL documents warned it expected to lose £4bn due to the pandemic and said it needed £3.2bn to balance a proposed emergency budget for 2021, having lost 90% of its overall income.

[162] In April, Govia Thameslink Railway re-branded three trains with special liveries to show its support for the NHS and the 200,000 essential workers commuting on GTR's network every week.

[citation needed] William Hill, which operates many in-person betting shops, reported that its profits during the first half of 2020 dropped by 85% compared to the previous year.