The IoD is calling for emergency insolvency measures to prevent widespread company collapses, Business News Wales reported. Under current laws, the board of directors has a strict duty to cease trading if the company is facing insolvency, and may face personal financial or legal liabilities at a later date if they seek finance instead of doing so. The IoD therefore calls on the Government to relax existing insolvency obligations – including a moratorium on the current offence of wrongful trading.

The UK government is eyeing urgent changes to insolvency laws to prevent companies unable to meet debts due to the impact of coronavirus from being forced to file for bankruptcy, the Financial Times reported. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy canvassed insolvency and restructuring experts this week on a possible suspension of wrongful trading laws and new measures to protect retail and hospitality groups forced to stop trading because of the government’s nationwide lockdown, according to two people familiar with the matter.

UK small lenders are warning that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable customers could become “mortgage prisoners” if the government does not grant wider access to emergency funding schemes to support credit during the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Times reported. Non-bank, specialist lenders play a key role in providing home loans to three quarters of a million people who cannot borrow from mainstream banks, as well as financing small businesses and providing consumer finance such as point-of-sale credit.

Two of the UK’s largest peer-to-peer platforms are “urgently” seeking access to government schemes and financing to help them keep lending, as the coronavirus pandemic increases the risk of loan defaults by individuals and small businesses, the Financial Times reported. RateSetter, one of the UK’s biggest P2P lenders with more than £800m on its loan book, has called on the Bank of England and the Treasury to allow it access to stimulus schemes that provide liquidity to banks.

Burger King, Carluccio’s and Yo! Sushi are among hundreds of businesses in the UK planning to withhold rents this week as they battle to conserve cash to survive the coronavirus outbreak, the Financial Times reported. Alasdair Murdoch, chief executive of Burger King UK, said he would skip rent payments due on the chain’s more than 500 British restaurants to free up funds to pay staff, after the government announced that those who did not pay would not forfeit their lease.

Laura Ashley Holdings said on Monday it will permanently shut 70 stores and cut hundreds of jobs as the struggling fashion retailer appointed administrators following a damaging blow to its business from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The pandemic has compounded challenges faced by British retailers. Laura Ashley, a favourite of late Princess Diana in its 1980s heyday, has seen sales fall, store closures and weakness at its home furnishings business.

Offshore oil driller Valaris PLC is exploring debt restructuring options as it grapples with a rig accident and a broader collapse in energy prices, people familiar with the matter said on Friday, Reuters reported. Valaris has tapped debt restructuring attorneys at law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP for advice on ways to rework its roughly $6.5 billion debt pile, and is exploring enlisting a turnaround firm that specializes in urgently addressing stressed finances to bolster its roster of advisers, the sources said.

Cath Kidston, the British modern vintage retailer known for its floral and polka dot designs, is this weekend racing to find a buyer as it tries to avoid becoming the latest high street casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, Sky News reported. Sky News has learnt that Cath Kidston, which was set up by its eponymous former boss in 1993, has drafted in advisers to undertake an urgent review of its strategic options. Insiders said on Saturday that Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) had notified prospective bidders this week that offers were required imminently for the business.

The coronavirus pandemic is ravaging the UK high street, with clothing chain Primark on Sunday becoming the latest to announce it was closing all its stores, the Financial Times reported. Associated British Foods, the family-controlled conglomerate that owns the brand, intends to close its 189 Primark stores in the UK for the foreseeable future. It has already shut 187 shops across Europe and the US. Department store John Lewis and sandwich chain Pret A Manger announced the closure of all outlets on Saturday.

Carmakers across the UK are dusting off plans drawn up to cope with Brexit to help their businesses during the wave of factory shutdowns because of coronavirus, the Financial Times reported. They are restoring emergency measures, including letting warehouses to stockpile parts, as they prepare for weeks of plant downtime while still accommodating shipments of goods from across the world.