London-based digital-first healthcare platform Babylon Health has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States for two subsidiaries — Babylon Healthcare and Babylon Inc. — as it shuts down core U.S. operations, according to documents filed on Aug. 9 in a Delaware bankruptcy court, Becker's Hospital Review reported. The filing comes shortly after a planned combination Babylon's core operating subsidiaries with MindMaze, digital neurotherapy company, collapsed.

RoyaleLife told a judge Wednesday that it is seeking to appoint administrators to one of its key subsidiaries, as the UK bungalow owner grapples with around £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) of debt, Bloomberg News reported. A lawyer acting for Time GB Group Limited told London’s high court that it will apply for an administration order and has approached insolvency practitioners from FRP Advisory. Time GB Group is facing a winding-up petition that was filed by a company called Yarwell Mill Country Park Limited in May, according to public filings.

The U.K.’s headline rate of inflation fell in July, though key components of prices remained stubbornly hot, adding pressure on the Bank of England to keep raising interest rates to cool the highest inflation rate among leading industrialized countries, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 6.8% higher in July compared with the same month a year earlier, easing from the 7.9% increase recorded in June, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected inflation to decline to 6.9%.

Basic wages in Britain hit a new record growth rate, figures showed on Tuesday, adding to worries for the Bank of England (BoE) about long-term inflation pressures even after 14 back-to-back increases in interest rates, Reuters reported. Official data showed some fresh signs of cooling in the jobs market with the unemployment rate unexpectedly rising to 4.2% from 4.0%, the highest since the three months to October 2021 and climbing more quickly than the BoE has forecast.

Bidders for crisis-stricken retailer Wilko have been given a Wednesday deadline to table offers to buy the firm, The Independent reported. The historic high street chain fell into administration last week, putting the future of its 400 stores and 12,500 workers in jeopardy. It is understood that administrators from PwC have set the deadline as they quickly seek to strike a deal which could save jobs. Wilko is continuing to trade and has not announced any redundancies after formally entering insolvency last week.

A Scottish renewables company, backed by Scottish Enterprise, has been placed into administration as a result of problems with its Canadian subsidiary, Daily Business reported. Edinburgh-based Sustainable Marine Energy (SME), developed tidal energy systems and last year its Canadian business was successful in harnessing tidal currents in the country’s Bay of Fundy, in Nova Scotia, using its innovative, floating platform.

Britain's economy eked out unexpected growth in the second quarter, laying the ground for more interest rate hikes from the Bank of England, but it remained the only big advanced economy yet to regain its pre-COVID, late-2019 level, Reuters reported. Official data on Friday showed the economy grew 0.2% in the second quarter, against the consensus for a flat reading in a Reuters poll of economists. The figures sent the pound sharply higher against the U.S. dollar and euro.

UK homeware discount retailer Wilko has collapsed into administration, a form of creditor protection that could mean a loss of 12,000 jobs, it said Thursday, as the company could not find any saviour to avert its insolvency crisis to keep its 400 stores operational, The News (U.K.) reported. Mark Jackson, said management had "left no stone unturned" in its attempts to save the business. "But must concede that with regret, we've no choice but to take the difficult decision to enter into administration," he said.

The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada slapped sanctions Thursday on Lebanon's embattled former central bank governor and a handful of close relatives and associates over allegations of corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said, the Associated Press reported. Riad Salameh, 73, ended his 30-year tenure on July 31 under a cloud of investigation and blame for his country's historic economic crisis. France, Germany, and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and close associates over alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million.

Babylon Health is looking to sell its UK business, including its 100,000 patient NHS GP practice, and may fall into administration, the company has announced, DigitalHealth.net reported. Following the story back in May that shares in Babylon fell sharply on news that the company was being taken private as part of a new debt plan, the firm announced this week that a $34.5m attempt to restructure and return to private ownership fell through. Babylon GP at Hand, an online-first GP practice with over 100,000 registered NHS patients around London, is the firm’s main remaining NHS service.