Britain's audit watchdog has launched an investigation into PwC over its work for WH Smith after the retailer was struck by an accounting scandal last year, The Telegraph reported. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it had opened an investigation into the Big Four firm over its audit of WH Smith's 2024 accounts. It came after the retailer last summer admitted to having overstated profits in its North American business by £30m because of an accounting error.

A UK engineering firm based in Oxfordshire has been placed into compulsory liquidation just over a year after it was formed, official filings show, the Oxford Mail reported. Records for HWL Installations Ltd, company number 15814421, state that the business is now in compulsory liquidation following a court winding‑up process. The private limited company, which has its registered office in Bicester, was incorporated in 2024 and is recorded as being in liquidation rather than active.

British businesses expect to increase prices less quickly in the year ahead ​than they did in April as some of the initial energy price ‌shock caused by the Iran war fades, according to a survey published by the Bank of England on Friday, Reuters reported. The BoE's Decision Maker Panel showed companies in May expected price growth of 4.0% in ​the coming 12 months, down from a more than two-year high of ​4.4% in April though still above the 3.4% expected in February before ⁠the conflict started.

The founder of collapsed shadow bank Market Financial Solutions (MFS) has scored a victory in the battle for control of his collapsed business, The Telegraph reported. Lawyers acting for Paresh Raja have successfully appointed his preferred officials to oversee the administration of one of MFS’s lending units, after initially being rebuffed by the courts.Raja’s application to appoint S&W as administrator for Pearl Bridging was granted after his lawyers warned that it would be a “rudderless ship” if it did not enter administration.

St Davids Cathedral could face insolvency within two years and its financial reserves are "dangerously low", according to a new report, BBC.com reported. The 6th Century cathedral in the UK's smallest city of St Davids, Pembrokeshire, is visited by 300,000 people every year. But a report commissioned by Bishop Dorrien Davies has highlighted serious concerns about its future, with the cathedral's financial position described as the "most critical" challenge.

The number of households in which no adult has ever worked hit a record high in the first quarter of this year, as Britain’s worklessness crisis deepens, The Telegraph reported. There are 298,000 households where at least one adult is of working age, but nobody has ever been employed, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is up by almost 40,000 homes compared with the same period last year and is the highest level since records began, dating back to 1996.

British budget airline easyJet has caught the eye of U.S. investment firm Castlelake for a possible takeover, Reuters reported. While easyJet has called the timing "highly opportunistic", analysts say its low valuation, slots at key ​airports and stable fleet make it a prime takeover target as it has struggled to boost ‌its market capitalisation since the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Bank of America analysts said Castlelake's strategic plan was unclear, but the airline's fleet could be of interest. They estimated ​a takeover at a price of £6.50 per easyJet share.