Nearly a third of councils in poor areas in the United Kingdom are considering bankruptcy as they run out of money, the Mirror reported. A survey of 47 local authorities found five are currently in the process of deciding whether to declare they cannot balance their books this year. The councils are thinking about issuing what is known as a Section 114 notice, which would freeze all non-essential spending. A further nine local authorities said they might have to declare bankruptcy next year.

Britain dodged a recession last year despite a historic energy price shock and an investor revolt that forced out the prime minister. Recent data have raised questions about whether it will be so lucky this time around, Bloomberg News reported. Surveys of purchasing managers and retailers both point toward a sudden slowdown in recent weeks. More companies are taking steps to address financial distress. Even the jobs market, which remained strong through the pandemic, is showing signs of weakening.

When United Kingdom housebuilder Crest Nicholson Holdings Plc reported its first-half results in June, it expected full-year profit to meet expectations of just under £75 million (£73.7 million to be exact). This morning it slashed that outlook to “around £50 million.” It mostly comes back to the ongoing stand-off between buyers and sellers in the U.K. housing market. Mortgages are much more expensive than they were 18 months ago. Banks are happy enough to lend — keen, even, as Marcus points out.

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.