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.

Britain’s young adults increasingly are priced out of the housing market and are living with their parents later into life after “giving up on property,” Bloomberg News reported. That’s the conclusion of both official figures from the census and a report from the real estate website Zoopla, which dubbed the group “Guppies” in contrast to the aspirational professionals from the 1980s known as “Yuppies.” About 51% of people in England and Wales aged 20 to 24 opted to live with their parents, census data collected in 2021 and released Wednesday showed.

British employers reduced the number of new permanent staff they hired through recruitment agencies by the most since mid 2020 last month due to concerns about the economic outlook, adding to signs that the market is becoming tougher for job seekers, Reuters reported. A gauge of permanent staff hiring by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and accountants KPMG fell to 42.4, the lowest since the 34.3 in June 2020 when the country was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bank of England on Thursday raised its key interest rate for the 14th time in a row and said it may do so again as it tries to cool the fastest rise in consumer prices in the Group of Seven advanced democracies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K.’s central bank increased its bank rate to 5.25% from 5%, lifting it to its highest level since February 2008 and matching recent moves by both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Thousands of jobs are at risk at Wilko Ltd. after the British low-cost retailer signaled it was at risk of insolvency proceedings due to “mounting cash pressures,” Bloomberg News reported. The privately-owned chain, which sells everything from stationery to hardware, has filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators at the UK’s High Court, following weeks hunting for a rescue deal. Wilko, which has 400 shops and employs about 12,000 people, started from a single hardware store in 1930.

Robert Bull, the majority owner of British bungalow giant RoyaleLife, saw his public profile reach new heights this year when he entered The Sunday Times Rich List for the first time. In a piece to accompany his entry, Bull, 46, told of how he had become bankrupt in 2016, but had since recovered to build a £4-billion ($5.1 billion) business that specializes in selling pre-fabricated dwellings to over-45s. His net worth was estimated by The Sunday Times at around £1.9 billion. The actions of an alleged gangster could threaten all of that.

Cineworld Group said it has emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy after nearly 11 months, coming out with lower debt and a new slate of management and board, Reuters reported. The world's second largest cinema chain operator behind AMC Entertainment said it has appointed former Chair and CEO of Warner Bros Ann Sarnoff to its board, along with four other members to join new Chairman Eric Foss and CEO Eduardo Acuna. The movie chain operator and owner of brands such as Regal, Cinema City, Picturehouse and Planet had filed for U.S. bankruptcy in early September to restructure its massive debt.

British home prices fell further last month as borrowing costs held back demand, one of the largest mortgage lenders said, although the rate of decline showed a chance that the market could yet avoid a hard landing, Bloomberg News reported. The Nationwide Building Society said prices fell 3.8% in its July survey from a year ago, quicker than a 3.5% drop in the previous month. While economists expected a slightly larger decline of 4%, it was the third straight month that prices had fallen at their fastest pace since the global financial crisis in 2009.