Water bills for UK consumers have increased at about twice the rate of other goods since the industry was privatized, according to the Office of National Statistics, Bloomberg News reported. Bills have increased 363% since privatization in 1989, a move intended to keep bills down while drawing in investment. Charges jumped 8.9% in April, according to the data, the steepest increase in 18 years. One company, South West Water, has seen the number of customers receiving help with their bills rise by more than a third.

On a quiet back street sandwiched between Mayfair’s Grosvenor and Berkeley Squares in London’s West End, the door to 11 Mount Row bore signs of forced entry, its black paint pierced by a battering ram. Temporary padlocks had been installed to secure it. Wednesday morning, the building had been targeted as part of a vast police operation spanning seven countries and almost two dozen addresses, Bloomberg News reported. The sweep focused on Adler Group SA, formerly one of Germany’s largest landlords, and the man accused of pulling the strings behind it.

Britain’s biggest water supplier, Thames Water, is in talks with officials over contingency plans including a temporary nationalization as concerns grow over its more than £13 billion ($16.5 billion) debt pile, Bloomberg News reported. Thames’ bonds tumbled on Wednesday morning, with one falling 35 pence on the pound. Chief Executive Officer Sarah Bentley suddenly stepped down with immediate effect the previous day amid concerns over the financial stability of the firm, forcing the issue on to the government’s agenda.

The UK and the European Union signed a long-awaited memorandum of understanding on financial services on Tuesday, marking a moment of accord amid years of wrangling over post-Brexit co-operation, Bloomberg News reported. Jeremy Hunt approved the memo with Commissioner Mairead McGuinness during the first visit to Brussels by a UK chancellor in more than three years.

Embattled cinema chain operator Cineworld Group on Monday said it will file for administration in Britain and suspend trading on the London Stock Exchange next month, as part of a restructuring plan to reduce its massive debt, Reuters reported. Shares in the world's second-largest movie theatre chain operator, which filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in September, slumped 26% to 0.52 pence in morning trade. The company had disclosed a net debt of about $8.8 billion, according to its latest results at the time.

The steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has won a partial reprieve over attempts to force his British operations into insolvency after two winding-up petitions against them were dropped. Sky News has learnt that long-running legal claims against parts of Mr Gupta's Liberty Steel empire in the UK, which employs thousands of people, were withdrawn last week. Originally filed in March 2021, the petitions sought to force Liberty's Speciality Steel arm and a division formally known as Liberty MDR Treasury Company into insolvency.

There is intensifying pressure on Britain’s government to do more to help struggling households, with the country’s shadow finance minister warning of a “mortgage catastrophe” as millions are pushed to the brink of insolvency, CNBC.com reported. The Bank of England last week hiked interest rates by 50 basis points to 5%, a bigger increase than many had expected. The BOE’s 13th consecutive rate rise takes the base rate to the highest level since 2008.

For decades, one fashion accessory was more synonymous with Britain’s most famous music festival, Glastonbury, than any other: Hunter Wellington boots, the New York Times reported. Paparazzi photographs of the likes of Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne and Alexa Chung wearing their Hunters in the early aughts propelled what were once functional footwear favorites of country life into cool style statements with broad global appeal.

Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley has been plunged into a multimillion-pound bankruptcy row with a Greek shipping tycoon, The Telegraph reported. Ms Staveley, who helped Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund acquire the Premier League club in 2021, has asked the High Court to prevent shipping magnate Victor Restis from forcing her into bankruptcy, new filings reveal. Mr Restis claims Ms Staveley has failed to repay a loan of more than £35m that dates back to over a decade.

The Bank of England raised interest rates by a bigger-than-expected half a percentage point on Thursday after it said there had been "significant" news suggesting British inflation would take longer to fall, Reuters reported. The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to raise its main interest rate to 5% from 4.5%, its highest since 2008 and its largest rate increase since February, following stickier inflation and wage growth since its policymakers met last in May.