Shares in Debenhams, the British department store chain that is fighting for survival, plunged as much as 22 percent on Friday as its new interim chairman began the task of trying to find a consensus among investors on the way forward, Reuters reported. On Thursday, two major Debenhams shareholders - Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct and Middle Eastern investor Landmark Group - forced Chief Executive Sergio Bucher off the board and Chairman Ian Cheshire out of the company following a drop in Christmas sales.

A venture led by Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. scooped up Flybe Group Plc for a penny a share, all but wiping out the value of the British regional carrier hit by dwindling passenger numbers, higher oil prices and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, Bloomberg News reported. Virgin, Cyrus Capital and airport operator Stobart Group Ltd. agreed to purchase Flybe for 2.2 million pounds ($2.8 million), according to a statement Friday.

More than 20 U.K. retail chains instructed accountancy firm Deloitte LLP in the past two months to assess whether they are able to restructure their debt, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information, Bloomberg News reported. The accountancy firm is considering whether the chains -- mostly fashion and homeware retailers -- can use a so-called company voluntary arrangement to close stores. The process allows businesses to leave behind lease liabilities and keep operating, but puts a financial burden on landlords.

Britain’s Ovo Energy said on Friday it had taken over the customers of independent power supplier Economy Energy, which ceased trading this week. Economy Energy became the ninth supplier to stop trading in the past year, after an attempt to increase competitiveness prompted the launch of dozens of independent traders in Britain, Reuters reported. Ovo said it now had 1.5 million retail customers in Britain after taking over Economy Energy’s 235,000 clients as well as the 290,000 customers of Spark Energy, another small company that stopped operations last year.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Theresa May the whole world wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit even as she faces likely defeat when Parliament votes on her plan next week, Bloomberg News reported. Following a day of meetings between the two leaders in London Thursday, Abe publicly backed May’s agreement and offered her his “deepest respect” for the work she has done in securing an agreement with the European Union. “We truly hope that a no-deal Brexit will be avoided and in fact, that is the whole wish of the whole world,” Abe said at a press conference in Downing Street.

Staff at struggling dockless bike-sharing start-up Ofo’s international subsidiaries are “prepared for bankruptcy or acquisition” after the company shut its overseas department, the Financial Times reported. A person familiar with the company said that Beijing-headquartered Ofo’s international arm, which managed the global subsidiaries, had closed this week but employees abroad still had their jobs. The division’s closure was first reported by local Chinese media.

Struggling children's goods retailer Mothercare has continued to suffer from declining sales, with no reversal in its fortunes over the crucial Christmas trading period. Sales at its UK stores that have been open for more than a year fell by 11.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to January, compared to the same period a year before, the Financial Times reported. Online sales dropped by 16.3 per cent as fewer people visited its website and its toy range was smaller than a year ago.

Big Four firm Deloitte has reaped the benefits of Comet’s downfall for the last six years, making a total of £15m in fees, Accountancy Age reported. This is despite the investigation into Deloitte’s conduct which may end in disciplinary action. According to The Times, the professional services business has made millions over the six years that it has been dealing with Comet’s liquidation, which occurred in 2012. It charged £10.2m to be administrator and £5m to be liquidator.

Efforts to boost take up for examinerships appear to have failed, with insolvent Irish firms shying away from the process despite the chance it offers them to continue trading, Independent.ie reported. Just 3pc of insolvencies were examinerships in 2018, the same figure as in 2017, according to figures compiled by Deloitte. Deloitte said the level of examinerships was unexpectedly low. Examinership gives an insolvent firm a 100-day grace period from its creditors, within which time it can seek to come up with a scheme for survival.

The engineering arm of Monarch Airlines, the holiday carrier that collapsed in 2017, has been put into administration with the immediate loss of 408 jobs, the Financial Times reported. Administrators KPMG were called in after Monarch Aircraft Engineering, the last remnant of Monarch Airlines and which provides aircraft maintenance services and has a training academy, ran into financial difficulties and failed to find a buyer. The engineering business had been bought by Greybull Capital, the private equity group, after the collapse of Monarch.