Spain is seeking to use its share of the EU’s €750bn coronavirus recovery fund to revitalise its stalled economy, with the government likening it to the country’s 1986 entry into the bloc or the creation of the European single market, the Financial Times reported. Madrid plans to borrow €27bn against future grants from the fund, long before they are formally approved by the EU. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority administration hopes to use the money to push through a 2021 budget and consolidate power, while boosting an economy hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill has been given more time to find buyers or new investors for its struggling businesses as an alternative to putting them into administration, the Financial Times reported. The group, controlled by Switzerland-based tycoon Philip Day, had already filed a notice of intent to appoint FRP as administrators, giving it protection from any legal action by its creditors. The notice was extended for two weeks on Friday.

The UK economic recovery lost steam in October as tighter Covid-19 restrictions limited activity more than expected in both the manufacturing and services sectors, prompting further job cuts and fuelling fears of a renewed economic downturn, the Financial Times reported. The IHS Markit flash, or interim, purchasing managers’ index for services fell to 52.3 in October, down from 56.1 in the previous month and the lowest since June.

Banks have asked specialist debt collectors to help lead the recovery of tens of billions of pounds of government-backed small business loans, as they prepare for an expected wave of defaults and fraud cases, the Financial Times reported. UK Finance, the trade group, is leading discussions to create a centralised “utility” that will deal with defaults on government-backed bounce back loans.

Ireland will be the eurozone’s biggest loser from a no-deal Brexit, which threatens to cause an economic “double whammy” on top of the fallout from rising coronavirus infections, the Irish central bank’s governor has warned, the Financial Times reported. Gabriel Makhlouf told the Financial Times that if the UK left the EU without a trade deal at the end of this year, the new tariffs on goods would hit Ireland’s agricultural and food sectors hardest, knocking 2 percentage points off the country’s economic growth next year.  “This whole process is lose-lose,” said Mr Makhlouf.

More than £3bn might have been stolen in furlough money by criminal gangs and fraudulent employers, according to estimates used by parliament’s spending watchdog in a report into the government’s flagship jobs protection scheme, the Financial Times reported. The National Audit Office said there was evidence of “significant levels of furlough fraud” from both organised gangs “hijacking” claims and employers taking money collected on behalf of staff. More money will be lost through staff working hours that they were claiming for, the NAO added.

Over half the small and medium-sized companies which together provide jobs for two-thirds of European workers fear for their survival in the coming 12 months, according to a survey released by management consultancy McKinsey on Thursday, Reuters reported. The survey was conducted in August, before the current acceleration in new coronavirus cases across Europe that is forcing governments to impose new restrictions on activity and prompting speculation of fresh national lockdowns.

KPMG has put its UK restructuring practice up for sale and held talks with private equity firms ahead of a possible auction before the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported. A cash injection would help the Big Four firm, with its finances having suffered during the pandemic. KPMG also faces a potentially large fine over its audit work for Carillion, the collapsed outsourcing group, as well as a £250m negligence lawsuit brought by the company’s administrators.

More than a third of British hospitality companies are at risk of going bust, according to a survey on Thursday that suggested more support will be needed for businesses amid a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The Office for National Statistics said 17% of food and accommodation businesses reported a “severe” risk of insolvency, while a further 21% said the risk was “moderate”.

Overseas tourism revenues are likely to collapse by two-thirds this year as a result of Covid-19, an Oireachtas committee has been told. In 2019 the overseas market brought in €9 billion in revenue; this year it will be closer to €3 billion, The Irish Times reported. Foreign visitors account for 75 per cent of all tourism revenue earned in the State, members were told.