KPMG has been paid about £2.3m for its work on winding down Patisserie Valerie, despite being replaced as administrator to the failed bakery chain due to a conflict of interest, the Financial Times reported. The Big Four accounting firm, whose insolvency partners earned £875 an hour for the work according to its latest disclosure to creditors, will cease to be administrator as it cannot pursue legal claims against Patisserie Valerie’s auditor, which is expected to be the next stage in attempting to recoup money for creditors.

Exclusive talks between the U.K.’s Insolvency Service and Turkey’s Ataer Holdings about a sale for British Steel have ended without a deal, Bloomberg News reported. The official receiver for the company, who is managing the sale, will hold discussions with other parties and the potential buyers are expected to visit British Steel sites in the coming days, the insolvency service said on Wednesday. Talks with Ataer, which co-owns steelmakers in Turkey, are continuing as well.

A Turkish group’s acquisition of British Steel depends on lowering the cost of contracts the U.K.’s No. 2 steelmaker holds with its suppliers, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. Oyak Group, which manages military pensions, entered exclusive talks in August to buy British Steel, the first step in a rescue that could save about 5,000 jobs in the U.K.’s manufacturing heartland.

UK-based jeweler Links of London’s fall into administration has led to loss of 38 jobs at its head office in London, administrator Deloitte said on Friday, adding that there have been no job losses in any stores, Reuters reported. The luxury jewelry retailer, owned by Greek Folli Follie, has around 28 standalone stores across the UK and Ireland along with seven kiosks and employed 350 people when it appointed administrators earlier this month.

Sterling and European markets are likely to succumb to another wave of volatility this week as the odds of a no-deal Brexit have tightened after UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s bid to pass his European Union withdrawal agreement in parliament on Saturday was scuppered, according to traders and analysts, The Irish Times reported. “Markets are likely to remain nervous over the next few days,” said Ronan Dunphy, an economist with Investec Ireland, even though he still sees the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU at the end of October as “remote”.

U.K. retail sales held up better than expected in September in the face of the intensifying Brexit crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The quantity of goods sold rose 0.2% from August when auto fuel is excluded, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday. Sales including fuel were unchanged. Both measures were forecast to decline for a second month. A buoyant labor market has supported consumer spending through the turmoil since the 2016 referendum. While heightened uncertainty ahead of the Oct.

Liquidator Grant Thornton is seeking litigation funding to step up its hunt for 500 million pounds ($632.30 million) invested in UK company Euro Forex, which Chinese police have said was a pyramid scheme, Reuters reported. Reuters reported in 2016 how Euro Forex, or EuroFX, allegedly scammed thousands of investors in China and other countries. EuroFX had a British CEO and headquarters and has since been wound up. A pyramid scheme does not make real investments, but instead uses cash from new investors to pay older ones.

Two companies in Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud’s property empire have gone into liquidation, weeks after it was revealed that investors in his projects faced huge losses, The Irish Times reported. KPMG has been appointed to manage the liquidation of HAB Land and subsidiary firm HAB Land Finance.

The company that holds the store leases of camera retailer Jessops has filed for administration in a bid to restructure its obligations and cut its outgoings, according to people briefed on the matter, the Financial Times reported. JR Prop manages the leases for Jessops under a structure similar to that used by the sub-brands of fashion retailer Arcadia. It has filed a notice of intent to appoint ReSolve as administrators, a move that affords the company creditor protection for a period of 10 days. The group’s main trading company, Jessops Europe, is unaffected by the move.

When it comes to Brexit, investors have endured three years of deadlines and disappointments. Now with a finish line tantalizingly in sight, they have switched from expectations it could last forever to perhaps pricing the endgame, Bloomberg News reported. As talks toward a deal enter overtime, negotiators from Britain and the European Union will still need official approval for any accord, and on the U.K. side that means Prime Minister Boris Johnson must win the support of Parliament. It could prove a formidable challenge, yet across multiple asset classes optimism is surging.