Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital has bought just over half of U.S.-based jewellery chain Claire's stores in Britain and Ireland, saving around 1,000 jobs, the administrators of the UK and Irish business said on Monday, Reuters reported. Investment company Modella, which bought WH Smith's British high street business for $100 million in June, will buy 156 Claire's stores from administrators Interpath Advisory for an undisclosed amount. The administrators will continue to operate the remaining stores while continuing to assess options for them, Interpath said.

A council took emergency action to safeguard a health and social care service after its previous provider went into liquidation, BBC.com reported. Peterborough City Council, which leads the Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board, terminated its contract with Nottingham Rehab Limited (NRS) in July following insolvency issues with the company. The service provides health and social care equipment and some housing adaptations for residents.

Jaguar Land Rover's production shutdown after a cyberattack is hitting businesses in Britain's West Midlands region, a survey showed on Friday, with firms already making redundancies or cutting staff hours in response, Reuters reported. The government is considering financial support for the luxury carmaker, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, after the cyberattack halted production at the start of this month. It has extended the shutdown until October.

The governments of Britain and the United States will set up a body to reduce red tape for firms seeking to access capital markets on both sides of the Atlantic and improve cooperation on crypto assets, Britain's finance ministry said on Monday, Reuters reported. The Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future will report back within 180 days on ways to enhance collaboration in the short term and on longer-term options, including in wholesale digital markets, the Treasury said. Creation of the taskforce was approved by British finance minister Rachel Reeves and U.S.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has reduced the time it takes to approve crypto registration applications by 69% since 2023, although data from the regulator also show that there has been a 43.5% decline in applications over the past two years, Decrypt.com reported.

U.K. retail sales rose last month, a boon to the economy which is suffering from high inflation and slowing activity, the Wall Street Journal reported. Retail volumes were 0.5% higher on month in August, the same increase as July, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Clothing stores, butchers and bakers, and non-store retailing improved in August, which some retailers attributed to the good weather, the ONS said. However, on a three-month basis, sales fell 0.1%. The Bank of England held rates at this week’s meeting, after inflation stayed well above target in August.

Rachel Reeves has been handed a £3bn blow to VAT receipts as the fiscal watchdog warned that cash-strapped consumers could be switching to cheaper food options amid soaring inflation, The Telegraph reported. The Chancellor was forced to borrow £11.4bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast between April and August, official figures showed. The OBR said this could be blamed on local councils borrowing £2.8bn more than expected during the period, as well as lower-than-expected receipts for the Treasury.