The British business of the Body Shop has collapsed into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk at the one-time pioneering ethical cosmetics retailer, Reuters reported. Founded in Brighton, southern England, in 1976 by late environmentalist and human rights activist Anita Roddick, the Body Shop was famous for promoting natural, ethically-sourced products and rejecting animal testing.

U.K. wage growth eased a little less than forecast in the fourth quarter, while unemployment unexpectedly ticked down, signaling a stubbornly tight labor market and reflecting still-significant inflationary pressures as the Bank of England weighs when to start cutting interest rates, the Wall Street Journal reported. Average pay growth, excluding bonuses, was 6.2% in the three months to December, down from 6.7% in the three-month period to November, according to data published Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics.

The troubled used car supermarket Cazoo is scrambling for a lifeline as it sinks further into a funding crisis, the Telegraph reported. The online dealer hopes to persuade shareholders to agree to an urgent cash injection but is preparing contingency measures. A source involved in the discussions said all options are on the table, including new investors, a sale or break-up of the company, and asset sales. However, if fresh funds can’t be found then it will be forced to consider administration. A team of restructuring and insolvency experts is being called in to navigate the crisis.

A luxury townhouse in London’s exclusive Kensington district is expected to sell for about $34 million (£27 million) as part of bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg News reported. The property, a short walk from Hyde Park, is registered to Khalifa Bin Butti Omeir Al Muhairi — an Emirati former vice-chairman of NMC Health Plc. The once London-listed hospital operator collapsed into administration in 2020 following allegations of fraud, triggering a series of investigations and lawsuits. Al Muhairi filed for bankruptcy in an Abu Dhabi court a year later.

A council is warning it could be at risk of bankruptcy as £3m of government funding for port checks is withdrawn. Dover District Council (DCC) is responsible for checking food for diseases as it enters the UK, including African swine fever, BBC.com reported. The authority will now have to plug the funding gap, which it warns will "severely deplete" council reserves.

Distressed Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties plans to sell a property project in London by asking to receive some of its dollar bonds and just HK$1 (S$0.17) of cash, the Business Times reported. The defaulted builder signed a letter of intent to sell the holding company of Market Towers at 1 Nine Elms Lane, according to a filing late Tuesday (Feb 6) in Hong Kong. The mixed-used development is valued at £1.34 billion (S$2.27 billion) and includes 437 residential units and a hotel, it said.

Britain’s biggest homebuilder Barratt Developments agreed on Wednesday to purchase rival Redrow for £2.52 billion ($3.18 billion) as signs emerged of a recovery in the U.K. housing market, MarketWatch.com reported. Adding Redrow’s high-end homes to Barratt’s portfolio would give “customers a wider range of home types and price points,” while also delivering cost synergies of up to £90 million from “procurement savings and a rationalization of divisional and central functions,” said the FTSE 100 member.

Retail sales growth in the U.K. slowed in January mainly due to easing inflation and weak consumer demand, with cost-of-living pressures entering their third year, according to British Retail Consortium data, the Wall Street Journal reported. Total retail sales for the four weeks to Jan. 27 increased by 1.2% on month compared with 1.7% growth the prior month and the three-month average of 1.9%, the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor said Tuesday. Growth stood at 4.2% in January last year.

Bradford Council has drafted in a specialist to overhaul its finances as it tries to avoid going bust, BBC.com reported. Steven Mair became the authority's interim director of finance last month. He had previously been brought in by councils in Essex and Berkshire as they went through effective bankruptcy. A Bradford Council spokesperson said officers were pleased he would "support us at this financially challenging time". They said Mr Mair had "extensive experience of dealing with successful financial and change management projects across several local authorities".

Close Brothers Group Plc extended a share price rout that has wiped out a third of its value this year, amid ongoing reviews by the Financial Conduct Authority of two markets in which the 145-year-old British bank operates in, Bloomberg News reported. The stock fell as much as 5% on Friday, as RBC Capital downgraded its rating due to the regulator’s separate reviews of both motor financing and insurance taken out on credit, known as premium finance.