Three years after its departure from the European Union, Britain is yet to benefit from the Brexit dividend that was promised for its economy as it lags its peers on multiple fronts, including trade and investment, Reuters reported. Britain exited the EU on Jan. 31, 2020, though remained in the bloc's single market and customs union for 11 more months. On that day, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country could finally fulfil its potential and that he hoped it would grow in confidence with each passing month.

The Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into UK-based Effective Ventures Foundation over its ties to bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Bloomberg News reported. The Oxford, Oxfordshire-based charity had reported the FTX bankruptcy as a “serious incident”, as FTX’s philanthropic foundation had been a major funder of Effective Ventures, according to a statement Monday by the Charity Commission. The commission said there is “no indication of wrongdoing” by the charity’s trustees.

Flybe ceased trading on Saturday, marking the struggling British regional airline's second collapse in three years, with all flights canceled and 276 workers made redundant, the Daily Sabah reported. The airline initially slumped into bankruptcy in March 2020, shedding 2,400 jobs, as coronavirus restrictions decimated the travel industry. However, it relaunched in April last year, flying many of the same routes out of Belfast, Birmingham and London Heathrow.

Britain’s Treasury chief said Friday that taming inflation is more important than cutting taxes, resisting calls from some in the governing Conservative Party for immediate tax breaks for businesses and voters, the Associated Press reported. At a speech in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said “the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation.” The U.K.’s annual inflation rate hit a four-decade high of 11.1% in October, fueling a cost-of-living crisis and a wave of strikes by workers seeking pay raises to keep pace with rising food and energy prices.

More than 30,000 British companies went bust last year, with accountants warning of a “double whammy” to come in April that could trigger another wave of insolvencies, Bloomberg News reported. Big businesses were the worst hit, according to a report published Thursday by accountancy giant PwC. Insolvency activity among firms with revenues exceeding £1 million ($1.24 million) rose by more than 20%. Across all companies, the number of insolvencies climbed from 28,279 in 2021 to 31,606 last year, a jump of nearly 12%.

The UK faces a wave of companies going bust as insolvency experts warn that the number of firms in “critical financial distress” has jumped by more than a third, MSN.com reported. A “red flag alert” by insolvency firm Begbies Traynor said tax authorities are chasing debts over Covid support which will send many smaller businesses over the edge into administration. It also highlighted the “intense strain an increasing number of companies are under as they are hit by rising labour and materials costs, higher energy bills and an economy likely heading into recession”.

British private-sector economic activity fell at its fastest rate in two years in January, a survey showed on Tuesday, as businesses blamed higher Bank of England interest rates, strikes and weak consumer demand for the slowdown, Reuters reported. The S&P Global/CIPS flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 47.8 from 49.0 in December, at the bottom end of economists' forecasts in a Reuters poll and the lowest since January 2021. Readings below 50 indicate falling output. The fall contrasted with a slight rise in business activity in the euro zone.

The UK grid is asking some households to cut energy use on Monday — a request which is likely to be extended Tuesday — as a plunge in wind power and freezing temperatures across the country test its ability to keep the lights on, Bloomberg News reported. National Grid Plc will use the emergency tool for the first time to help ease a supply squeeze. Starting 5 p.m., customers of Centrica Plc, EON SE and Octopus Energy Ltd. who have signed up for the program will be asked not to use dishwashers or washing machines during a two-hour period of peak demand.

The number of Scottish businesses experiencing insolvency-related activity jumped over 32% in December 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, Insider.co.uk reported. Insolvency and restructuring trade body R3's analysis of data provided by Creditsafe showed that there were 142 cases of insolvency-related activity - which includes liquidator appointments, administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings - in Scotland last month – an increase of 35 activities from December 2021’s total of 107.

The writing was on the wall when Britain finalized its break from the European Union: The UK sorely lacked the battery manufacturing capability that would be absolutely critical to the auto industry’s future, leaving the country’s already declining car sector in a make-or-break bind, Bloomberg News reported. The failure of Britishvolt Ltd. to get past the stage of developing prototypes for an industry still vital to the UK’s economy casts further doubt on its prospects in the global race by nations to become self-sufficient in greener technology.