And finally...here’s our news story on today’s reopening:

Shoppers have surged back to high streets across England and Wales as fashion stores, toy shops, hairdressers and other nonessential retailers reopened their doors for the first time in more than three months.

The number of people out and about by 3pm on Monday more than doubled compared with the previous Monday and was just over a quarter lower than 2019 levels, according to analysts at Springboard.

Spending in England was up 500% at hairdressers and 2.5 times in shops in the morning, compared with a typical Monday before the pandemic, according to the financial app Revolut. Pubs got off to a slower start – but were still up 150% just before lunch with Romford and Chester seeing the biggest surges.

With snow flurries in some places and cold weather across the country, Springboard said shopping centres reported the biggest rise in footfall followed by high streets.

Shoppers queued outside Primark stores, which were among the first to open in England and Wales, as well as sports shops and the Zara and TK Maxx chains.

Paul Marchant, chief executive of Primark, said:

“As expected, stores have been very busy, but we’re more than ready and very confident in the safety measures we have in place. The mood has been incredibly upbeat and positive.”

The crowds spurred hopes of a spending spree fuelled by £180bn saved up after months without nights out, holidays or – for many – a commute to work.

About 40 people queued outside Primark on Oxford Street in central London before its 7am opening despite icy weather, but they were outnumbered by young people, mostly young men, waiting outside JD Sports, Footlocker and Nike Town in an effort to buy sought-after trainers to then sell online.

Several of these early morning shoppers told the Guardian that they had been swapping tips on where to go via vast Whatsapp groups.

Diyar Cicek, 19, standing outside JD Sports as flakes of snow fell at 8am, said:

“We are trying to make a little cash. No one wakes up at this time otherwise.”

Here’s the full story:

On that note, goodnight! GW

As the first families began to filter in to Twycross zoo in Leicestershire on Monday morning, William clapped his hands with excitement - my colleague Jessica Murray reports.

He is one of 15 chimpanzees at the 40-hectare (100-acre) zoo that have been longing for the return of visitors after months in lockdown.

“They’re so excited that people are coming back. They haven’t seen many people that they haven’t recognised in a while,” said Karen Clarke, the zoo’s chief operating officer.

“They love to play and pull funny faces, and they interact with the children as well and the children love it. The chimps almost copy them.”

Outdoor attractions in England, including zoos and theme parks, have once again been able to open their doors from Monday, with social distancing measures in place and restrictions on numbers. Twycross zoo is operating at 40% capacity with a booking system to ensure crowds are spread out across the day, while handles and surfaces are disinfected regularly.

By midmorning the zoo was starting to fill up with families and lots of delighted children. One was 19-month-old Sophie, who has just started saying the word monkey and was amazed to see the animals in real life, having only known them from books and videos.

She’s been shouting at all the monkeys and feeding the birds. It’s really nice that she can start getting more of a sense of what’s out there in the world,” said her father, Jonathan Branch.

“We have been a bit lockdown fatigued so we were keen to come back for the first day it was open. And we’ve read about their lack of funding so we wanted to do our bit.”

Revolut, the UK fintech banking service, has provided some handy spending data for this morning’s reopening rush.

It confirm that hairdressers and pubs have been particularly busy, with spending in barbers up 500% compared to a normal Monday morning.

It also shows that department store TK Maxx has been the busiest retailer this morning (according to spending through Revolut’s app), closely followed by Primark and JD Sports.

Here’s the details:

Hairdressers

Spending was up by 500% this morning when compared to a normal ‘pre covid’ Monday. By 9.45am point barbers were taking in £1,025 a minute.

25-34 year old women spent the most at hairdressers, closely followed by 35-44 year old men.

The average cost of a new trim was £31.63 which is inline with the pre-covid average cost of £31.56.

Pubs

Pubs were off to a slightly slower start than barbers, but spending really took off during the lunch break. Spending reached a massive £2,086 a minute by 11.45am and it continues to climb.

25-34 year old men were the biggest spenders with an average of £18.82 each (or 4.8 pints). Overall, the average size of a lunchtime round was £15.24, with most people getting in 2-3 rounds each. The biggest spenders this lunchtime have come from Romford, Chester and Portsmouth.

Retail

TK Maxx has been the best performing retailer this morning, followed closely by Primark and JD Sports. Overall, spending in physical retailers is up 2.5 times on normal (pre-covid) Monday levels.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have joined the centibillionaires club - with fortunes of over $100bn each.

That’s according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index - a daily ranking of the world’s richest people - after shares in Alphabet (Google’s parent company) hit record highs last week.

It takes the number of men worth at least $100bn to eight -- with a combined wealth of over one trillion dollars. The other six are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett.

Bloomberg says:

Google shares have seen a particularly big rally in recent weeks after the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of the tech giant in its $9 billion copyright battle with Oracle.

The case was a landmark one for the tech industry. The Supreme Court ruled that Google did not break the law when it copied Oracle-owned software interfaces for its Android OS.

Back in 2017, Bezos became the first person to net $100 billion since Bill Gates, who reached the milestone in1999.

Solicitors Poppleston Allen, who specialise in leisure licensing, have provided a comprehensive Q&A of the legal issues surrounding the easing of lockdown rules at pubs and restaurants in England.

It addresses questions that customers and staff may have, namely:

Q: Under what circumstances and how many times under those circumstances can I leave my table and go inside a pub or restaurant?

A: If alcohol is being served on the premises, you are advised to generally remain seated, but may leave your seat to use toilets or for breast-feeding or to use baby-changing facilities where appropriate.

Q: Do I have to order a substantial meal, or any food, with a drink?

A: No. Unlike the last time in which pubs were open, there is no legal requirement to order any kind of food alongside your drink in order to be served in a premises.

Q: What is the official definition of ‘outside space’? How are gazebos, marquees and other temporary structures classified?

A: There is no official legal definition of ‘outside space’, rather, ‘indoors’ is the term given, as defined by any space where the smoking ban applies. If you wouldn’t be allowed to smoke in this part of the premises, you can’t legally sit there and drink during Step 2.

Generally, any structure which has a roof - and ignoring doors and windows has 50% or less of the sides open - counts as indoors.

Q: Do I still have to maintain a social distance from other guests and/or my party at all times?

A: Not where you are in an exempt category, for example the same household or group of six friends, but social distancing generally should be maintained between different tables/groups (2m, or 1m+ with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable)

Q: Can I visit the pub/a restaurant with people from outside my household and what rules apply in those circumstances?

A: Yes, in groups of no more than six, or with another household, and outdoors only.

Q: How will last orders work and when do I have to leave? For publicans, when should customers have left the premises by?

A: Last orders are dictated by the licence-holder in accordance with the times permitted on their alcohol premises licence. There is no general curfew as with previous restrictions.

Q: Can pubs offer any kind of entertainment - if so what is permitted? (karaoke, quizzes, live music etc)

A: Government Guidance states: “For many restaurants, pubs and bars, providing entertainment such as recorded music, live sports broadcasts, quizzes, live musicians or comedians are an important part of their business.”

Steps that will usually need to be taken in advance of offering entertainment:

1. Determining the viability of entertainment and maximum audience numbers consistent with social distancing outside and within venues and other safety considerations.
2. Preventing entertainment, such as broadcasts, that is likely to encourage audience behaviours increasing transmission risk. For example, loud background music, communal dancing, group singing or chanting.

Q: If so can I leave my seat/seated position to dance/participate in entertainment.

A: Government guidance states that venues should lower music and other background noise and prevent shouting, singing and dancing in the venue by making sure music and broadcasts are played at a low volume.

Q: Can pubs show live sport outside? If so, can I leave my seat to celebrate a goal/is chanting or singing permitted?

A: Yes, pubs can show live sport outside, subject to following Government guidance which would not permit leaving a seat to celebrate a goal or engaging in group singing or chanting, ie behaviours that increase transmission risk.

Q: Can I play a fruit machine, quiz machine, darts, pool or participate in any other form of non-seated entertainment - inside or outside?

A: You are not allowed to enter a pub for any reason apart from payment, to use the toilets and baby-changing etc. Outside it would be possible to play darts or pool subject to a COVID risk assessment, for example cleaning cues, darts etc.

Q: What are the rules surrounding ‘takeaway pints’ and can I take my drink with me when leaving a licenced premise? Do the same rules apply for customers drinking ‘takeaway pints’ as for seated customers or are there any key differences.

A:There is no national prohibition on takeaway pints. Generally ‘off-sales’ are permitted but it is critical that such drinks are taken away from the premises and not consumed in an ‘adjacent’ area, which under the rules could be treated as part of the premises and therefore requiring table service.

Q: Can venues still ask for proof of vaccination - if they do, what are my rights?

A: Venues are permitted to refuse entry on whatever grounds they wish, provided this is not discriminatory under Equality legislation (for example due to sex, race, religion, disability etc)

Q: As a licensee or staff member, can I still ask customers for proof of vaccination, a temperature check or any other proof that they do not have Covid-19 - or is this illegal?

A: Yes, see above.

Q: What are the legal requirements for licensees and customers for Test and Trace?

A: All customers will have to provide details either through the app or directly to the premises. Venues have to display the official NHS QR poster as well.

Q: What are the legal requirements for providing addresses/proving that customers are from the same household.

A: See above – venues must take reasonable steps to refuse entry to those who refuse to provide contact details.

Q: Can I have a business meeting/working lunch inside a pub or restaurant?

A: No

More Britons returned to England’s roads and public transport today as non-essential retailers reopened after almost 100 days of lockdown.

All shops in England were allowed to welcome customers again on Monday in the latest easing of restrictions, while pubs and restaurants were allowed to serve customers outdoors.

In London the number of passengers getting off at stations near shops such as Oxford Street, Stratford and Westfield doubled between 10am and midday compared to last Tuesday, the first working day of last week.

Transport for London said that there were 690,000 bus journeys on Monday by 10am, 15% more than Tuesday.

Travel on the London Underground rose by 18%, although it remained at only a third of pre-pandemic demand. Live data from TomTom, a mapping company, showed the level of road congestion in major cities across England rose on Monday morning compared with Tuesday.

The tracker reported that rush-hour car journeys took 40% longer in London than in uncongested conditions, a 10 percentage point increase compared with the same time a week before. Locations which saw significant week-on-week rises in congestion levels on Monday also included Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle. In some parts of Britain the return to public transport was slower. The government continues to advise workers in England to work from home if possible, and to minimise travel.

A spokesperson for London Northwestern Railway, which carries passengers between London, Birmingham and Liverpool, said:

“There’s been a relatively small increase in the West Midlands but not huge numbers of people flocking back to the railway.”

In South Yorkshire the local railway police have placed officers at Meadowhall, Doncaster and Sheffield rail stations, “to ensure everyone enjoys the easing of lockdown”.

Tech news: Microsoft is buying artificial intelligence and speech technology firm Nuance Communications.

The deal will strengthen Microsoft’s voice recognition technologies, and also bolster its position in the healthcare market, where Nuance sells many products.

MS is paying $56 per share for Nuance, a 23% premium over the company’s closing price last Friday. The deal is worth $19.7 billion, inclusive of Nuance’s net debt - making it Microsoft’s second largest takeover, after LinkedIn back in 2016.

In a statement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, explains:

“Nuance provides the AI layer at the healthcare point of delivery and is a pioneer in the real-world application of enterprise AI.

“AI is technology’s most important priority, and healthcare is its most urgent application. Together, with our partner ecosystem, we will put advanced AI solutions into the hands of professionals everywhere to drive better decision-making and create more meaningful connections, as we accelerate growth of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare and Nuance.”

More here: Microsoft accelerates industry cloud strategy for healthcare with the acquisition of Nuance

Technology news site The Verge says the deal will allow Microsoft to add more digital transcription features to its services:

Digital transcription has become more reliable in a range of settings, from medical consultations to board meetings and university lectures. The uptick in remote work has also created new opportunities. With so many meetings taking place via video, it is easier to offer customers transcriptions via software integrated directly into these calls. Zoom, for example, offers automatic transcription via integration with third-party services like Otter.

For Microsoft, which makes roughly two-thirds of its revenue from enterprise software sales and cloud computing, improving its transcription services for scenarios like these makes complete sense. The company could integrate Nuance’s technology into its existing software, like Teams, or offer it independently as part of its Azure cloud business.

A new campaign has been launched today, to encourage retailers to consider the needs of shoppers with hearing impairments during the pandemic.

Called #WeSupportDeafAwareness, it launched at The Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading this morning.

It is created by Simon Houghton, whose social media post about the frustrations of lipreading during the pandemic mask restrictions went viral recently.

The campaign provides training to help businesses, charities and other groups teach employees to be more empathetic to the needs of customers and colleagues with a hearing impairment, provide them with greater awareness about what it is like to be deaf, as well as tips that will help them to better communicate with the deaf or hard of hearing.

He explains:

“Deafness is a ‘hidden disability’, and people with hearing difficulties already feel isolated.

For many deaf people, they rely on lipreading, and the pandemic has made communication almost impossible with the need to stay safe and wear masks. Many employees in essential services have not understood just how difficult it is to communicate without the ability to lipread, and have not had the awareness training to manage this effectively. Some simply do not seem to understand what is meant by ‘lipreading’, and many have been reluctant to take their masks off, even when maintaining social distances.”

The campaign also hopes businesses will display the #WeSupportDeafAwareness signs in their reception areas, offices, shop fronts and online, to show that staff have been trained to understand the issue.

There are more details here.

Retail visitors on Oxford Street, Bond Street, Regent Street and Mayfair today are around 44% of the usual April footfall, according to New West End Company (which represent 600 businesses in the area).

CEO Jace Tyrrell says this is slightly better than expected - but also shows that the sector needs ongoing help.

“Footfall this morning was slightly above our predictions, and was an encouraging start to reopening. We saw around 44 percent of the usual number of April visitors, with domestic shoppers out in force, but until international shoppers return the West End businesses will continue to need extra government support.”

“This is why we have written to the government to ask for an extension of Sunday trading hours in Britain’s two international centres - London’s West End and Knightsbridge. Greater flexibility on Sundays is vital to attract customers back into the capital, giving them the opportunity to spend what they want, when they want, all the while boosting the wider economy and crucially protecting jobs.”

Springboard have now issued updated footfall figures, covering all of this morning’s trading up to noon.

They show that customers numbers have roughly doubled so far today compared with last Monday morning (April 5th, which was a bank holiday), up 101% week-on-week.

That’s a slowdown on the 200%-plus surge in shopper numbers early this morning (up until 10am), when people were queuing to get into retailers, pubs and barbers.

Overall this morning, footfall was nearly 36% lower than on the comparable Monday morning in April 2019, Springboard adds. But it’s still up almost 350% compared with a year ago, during the first lockdown.

Central London continues to lag - with shopper numbers down over 70% compared with 15th April 2019.

Retail analyst group Springboard has just released figures on customer numbers up until 10am.

It shows that footfall (the number of people in shops, shopping centres and retail parks) has jumped over 200% so far this morning (up to 10am), compared with last week (when non-essential shops were closed).

That leaves footfall 14.7% lower than this Monday two years ago (a better comparison than a year ago, when the UK was under its first lockdown).

Retail parks are over 12% busier than in 2019, while the high street is still 31% quieter than two years ago.

Springboard reports:

• Footfall across all UK destinations footfall is up +218.2% week on week
• Footfall has seen rises of 339.7% in shopping centres, 232.8% in high streets and 58.2% on retail parks week on week
• Footfall across all UK destinations is up by 505.1% from 2020
• Footfall across all UK destinations is only -14.7% lower than 2019, with retail parks seeing an increase of +12.6%

In central London, footfall is up 230% this morning compared with last week.

But that still leaves shopper numbers in central London down around 68% compared with two years ago, reflecting the fact that tourists are keeping away and many office workers are still at home. Market towns, in contrast, are nearly 5% busier than two years ago.

Some hardy drinkers have already enjoyed their first pints at English pubs today...

In Newcastle Upon Tyne, the Switch bar opened shortly after the clocks struck midnight:

Shoppers queued outside Primark and sports shops on London’s Oxford Street early on Monday as clothing and other non-essential retailers opened their doors for the first time in more than three months.

About 40 people queued outside Primark despite icy weather, but they were outnumbered by young people, mostly young men, waiting outside JD Sports, Footlocker and Nike Town in a bid to buy sought-after trainers to buy online.

Diyar Cicek, 19, standing outside JD as flakes of snow fell at 8am, said:

“We are trying to make a little cash. No one wakes up at this time otherwise.”

Dillon Chuckisama, 19, the first in line outside Nike Town, said he had been queuing for about two hours and planned to buy up to 10 pairs of trainers which he could sell for about £50 more each via Instagram.

Referring to the most sought after type of trainer he said:

“Jordans bring money and that’s what makes the world go round.”

At Primark, shoppers said they had queued for bargains for themselves or relatives.

“It’s first come first served and we didn’t want to miss out,” said Esther, 15 who had bought some pool slider footwear and other summer gear from the chain which does not sell online and so has been inaccessible since December.

She added:

“Everyone has missed Primark. I don’t buy online. It just comes wrong and it is a long process to send it back.”

Oxford Street was otherwise quiet early on Monday with evidence of the devastation wrought by the pandemic on clothing retailers.

Topshop’s vast flagship and Debenhams central London store are both boarded up never to reopen with dozens more empty stores along the UK’s most famous high street.

In the City, stocks have opened slightly lower.

The FTSE 100 index is down 38 points, or 0.5%, at 6877 points, with mining stocks among the fallers. Last week the index of blue-chip shares hit its highest level since the pandemic began.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, suggests that political concerns could be weighing on the City again:

In a week that saw the FTSE100 close at its best levels in over a year, optimism over this week’s economic reopening of outdoor pubs, shops, gyms and hairdressers, appears to be being tempered by concerns over next month’s local and regional elections, and in particular how well the (Scottish National Party) SNP might do in the context of whether they get a mandate from Scottish voters to hold another independence referendum.

These concerns seem somewhat premature and overstated at this point in time, however these undercurrents could well act as a bit of a handbrake on any upside for UK stocks, as well as the pound over the next few weeks.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has told the Guardian that Boris Johnson will not oppose a second independence referendum if the Scottish National party wins a majority in the election next month.

Hairdressers and beauty salons in England can also open up again today - a relief to millions in need of a trim, recolouring or other treatments.

And some beauty therapists got to work just after midnight,

The Press Association reports that one of the beauty companies delivering midnight services was Secret Spa, which offers at-home salon and spa treatments at home across London, Manchester and Brighton.

At the stroke of midnight, co-owner Emily Ewart-Perks, alongside hair stylist Nas Ganev and tan artist Magdelaine Gibson, visited a home in Balham, south London to offer their long-awaited services to clients Amy Pallister and Isabella Robinson.

“It’s so amazing. It’s just been such a long time coming,” Ms Ewart-Perks said.

“I know that our therapists are just so happy to be working with clients again.

“Everyone has really missed the social contact of the day-to-day job and making clients happy. We haven’t been able to do that for the best part of five-to-six months.”

For Ms Ewart-Perks, the reopening announcement was initially met with a measure of apprehension... but she then saw a surge of bookings once the reopening was confirmed.

“We realised we had quite a few regular clients who we weren’t able to book in on the first day back, so we thought ‘why don’t we open the first moment we can?’

“And then we’re filling a lot of people in at dawn - a lot of 6am haircuts. Which is amazing, because people are going to have their hair cut and blowdried and then they can get on a Zoom call.

“The first day back is going to be double our best-ever day to date. I can’t believe we’re here.”

Ms Pallister, who received the first hair cut of the day, said the return of beauty services could not have come sooner, explaining:

“(The haircut) feels amazing, I can’t stop touching it.

“(It’s been) about seven or eight months, since my last one, so I had some very split ends. I’m very impatient, so I didn’t want to wait. (I booked it) as soon as they could fit me in.”

My colleague Sarah Butler has braced the cold and snow on London’s Oxford Street as retailers reopen their doors.

She reports that there’s quite a queue outside the JD Sports store this morning, as shoppers flock to buy its sportswear clothes and trainers.

Small businesses are also hoping that business activity will rebound as lockdown restrictions are eased.... but some also fear that they’ll be forced to lay off staff.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says its small business confidence guage has hit its highest level since autumn 2014.

Its survey of almost 1,700 business owners found that almost three out of five expect their performance to improve this quarter, as the lockdown eases.

But one in seven (14%) fear they are likely to make some or all of their staff redundant this quarter, as they anticipate the winding down of the UK’s job retention scheme this summer.

FSB chairman Mike Cherry says the relaxing of some restrictions today is lifting confidence among small firms:

“It’s fantastic that our shops, hairdressers and gyms can get back to doing what they do best all over England from today, with some restrictions easing in other parts of the UK as well.

“The certainty provided by the Government’s road map is filling many small business owners with renewed confidence. We live in hope that the virus stays in retreat so the remaining indicative dates for unlocking can be met, enabling our vital night-time economies, offices and travel and tourism businesses to get back to it as well.

“It’s worrying to see such a sizeable proportion of employers fearing redundancies over the coming months.”

Confidence among big businesses in Britain about their profits in the year ahead has hit a record high, helped by the country’s coronavirus vaccinations and hopes for less Brexit disruption.

A survey of chief finance officers showed that the UK’s finance leaders are much more upbeat. They’re anticipating an upsurge in hiring and capital expenditure expected as economic uncertainty eases -- thanks to vaccine rollouts, and some easing of Brexit anxiety.

Deloitte, who conducted the survey, say that CFOs anticipate a strong recovery in profits over the next twelve months, with profit expectations back to the previous high seen in mid-2014 at the top of the economic cycle.

Ian Stewart, Deloitte’s chief economist, explains:

“Brexit has been a significant dampener on business activity in the last four years but with the UK’s final departure from the EU, such effects are fading. Combined with a successful vaccine rollout and a greatly improved global backdrop we are seeing a turbo-charged surge in business optimism.

“Having come through the deepest downturn in 300 years UK businesses are firmly focussed on growth. Pent-up business and consumer demand are set to power a strong profits recovery, one already anticipated by the surge in equity markets since February.”

Here’s the full story:

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

After months of closure, on-essential shops, gyms and art galleries are reopening in England, as some Covid-19 restrictions are eased back.

With classic timing, parts of the country have been hit by snow this morning. But the cold April weather that hasn’t prevented some shoppers heading to the high street early -- with discount retailer Primark seeing queues as its stores open up again.

Wales’ high streets are also reopening today, with traders desperate to make up for losses suffered in a long lockdown.

Today’s rollback means that outdoor hospitality, events, grooming salons and theme parks also will be open for business again. Pubs and restaurants allowed to serve customers outdoors -- although you’ll probably need to have booked in advance (and wrapped up warm!).

Retailers will be hoping that customers will be keen to return to normality, as my colleague Rupert Neate writes this morning:

Kriti Sachdeva is more excited about the easing of national lockdown restrictions than she is about her birthday in November. “I want to celebrate,” she said. “I want to do everything, I just worry I won’t have time to fit it all in.”

She plans to go to the gym, eat brunch on the pavement at her favourite cafe, hit the shops, meet up with friends for a group outdoor yoga class and see work colleagues for drinks at an outdoor pub.

“We haven’t been able to do any of these things for such a long time,” said Sachdeva, 33, the marketing manager at Novos, an e-commerce startup. “I really want to get back to living more of a normal life. I’m most excited about getting to meet my colleagues as I got a new job during lockdown, so I haven’t met them face-to-face yet.”

The agenda

• 9am BST: China new loan data for March
• 10am BST: Eurozone retail sales for February