Shares in Ted Baker shed more than a third of their value on Thursday, after the British fashion retailer’s second profit warning in four months on the back of what new boss Lindsay Page called the worst business conditions in decades, Reuters reported. The warning underlines the challenges facing Page, who became chief executive officer in April, after misconduct allegations against Ted Baker founder and top shareholder Ray Kelvin. The company also tapped a new finance chief last week.

The UK’s economic outlook is darkening, according to a set of surveys released this week suggesting that activity slowed sharply in September while a growing proportion of employers cut staff, the Financial Times reported. The index of service sector activity, compiled by research group IHS Markit, fell from 50.6 in August to 49.5 last month, well below analysts’ expectations. Any reading below 50 means that a majority of companies reported falls in activity.

Irish lender AIB Group Plc added its name to a growing list of borrowers shunning English law for their riskiest bank bonds in preparation for life after Brexit, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned bank used Irish law for a sale of contingent convertible bonds on Wednesday that are set to replace its existing English-law governed notes. The move reflects a wider trend among European banks. Only 14% of euro-denominated CoCo paper sold by European lenders this year is governed by English law, down from more than 40% before 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Four Seasons, Britain’s second biggest care home operator, failed to pay millions of pounds of rent this month with no warning to landlords, raising concerns over the care of thousands of elderly residents, the Financial Times reported. The non-payment comes amid a shortage of residential places and as the Conservative party conference this week discusses the crisis in elderly care. Four Seasons, which runs 320 homes housing 16,000 residents, has been fighting for survival since 2017 after its owner — Guy Hands’ private equity firm Terra Firma — defaulted on an interest payment.

The U.K.’s accounting watchdog opened an investigation into Ernst & Young’s audit of Thomas Cook Group Plc’s financial statements after the 178-year-old tour operator collapsed, Bloomberg News reported. The Financial Reporting Council began the probe amid a growing political outcry over the failure last month, which cost thousands of jobs and left tourists stranded across Europe. The Big Four accounting firms have come under intense scrutiny in the U.K. following the collapse of outsourcing contractor Carillion PLC, bakery chain Patisserie Holdings Plc and other companies.

The UK government has revealed that its tax authority has reported itself to the police watchdog four times over the suicides of individuals facing the loan charge — the contentious policy which has left many people facing crippling tax bills, the Financial Times reported. The loan charge, which was introduced by HM Revenue & Customs in April, requires people who used loan-based avoidance schemes to pay tax on up to 20 years of income in a single financial year.

Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, has been sold by owner Dolphin Drilling to infrastructure specialists InfraStrata for 6 million pounds ($7.4 million), saving the facility from closure, Reuters reported. InfraStrata said Harland and Wolff’s multi-purpose fabrication facility, quaysides and docking facilities were ideally suited for the energy infrastructure industry and the company’s projects. All 79 workers who did not opt for voluntary redundancy earlier in the year will be retained, the company said.

Jamie Oliver received a £5.2m dividend payout despite profits across his restaurant, food and media group almost halving last year as the celebrity chef’s UK chain collapsed, the Financial Times reported. Profit before tax across the group, covering restaurant, licensing and media operations, fell from £14.5m in 2017 to £8m in the year to the end of 2018 as a result of £9.9m exceptional costs from the failure. Jamie’s Italian went into administration in May after a rapid expansion resulted in high rent and business rates.

Neutrals and fanatics are united by the belief that getting Brexit done will bring an end to the current chaos, The Irish Times reported. Closure is an overused word but it is often deployed by those who are either bored, terrified or angry about Brexit. Even some Remainers now think that a negotiated exit, soon, is the only way to allow the UK to move on. This belief is a dangerous delusion. For all of the understandable fury with the language used this week by Boris Johnson his strategy is logical.

The British government is hiring. Requirements: A candidate who can keep markets calm, put up with criticism from politicians and deftly respond to an unprecedented economic event as Britain tears itself away from the European Union, while the rest of the world economy stutters, the International New York Times reported. Send applications to: Unknown. The person who succeeds Mark Carney as leader of the Bank of England will have to brace for a challenge. When Britain voted to leave the European Union, Mr.