Troubled property development schemes spearheaded by a financially stretched former football club chairman account for almost a fifth of the money owed to investors in collapsed peer-to-peer lending platform Lendy, the Financial Times reported. The P2P platform, which had offered retail investors a 12 per cent return before it failed in May, extended £27m of loans to companies controlled by Stewart Day, the former chairman of Bury Football Club, that have since gone into administration, according to Companies House filings.

British media company Reach Plc said on Thursday it was in the early stages of discussions to buy certain assets of JPI Media, which publishes the Yorkshire Post and the Scotsman. Shares of Reach, which publishes Daily Mirror, jumped as much as 9% after the news, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. By 0919 GMT, the stock handed back some of those gains and were up 4.7% at 84.65 pence. Johnston Press, later renamed JPI Media, was bought by its bondholders last year after it filed for bankruptcy protection.

Online fashion retailer Asos warned profits would be more than a third lower than expected this year due to a botched warehouse upgrade that limited the availability of stock to shoppers in the US and Europe, the Financial Times reported. The group’s share price dropped by nearly a quarter early on Thursday as it said pre-tax profit would be about £30m-£35m in 2019, compared with the more than £55m forecast by analysts.

A no-deal Brexit could plunge the British economy into a yearlong recession, hammer the pound and house prices and add tens of billions of pounds to government borrowing, according to the U.K fiscal watchdog, Bloomberg News reported. The Office for Budget Responsibility analysis is based on the “less disruptive” of two no-deal Brexit scenarios modeled by the International Monetary Fund in April. “Heightened uncertainty and declining confidence deter investment, while higher trade barriers with the EU weigh on exports,” the OBR said in its fiscal risks report published Thursday.

The Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority have stepped up their rhetoric about the dangers posed by funds offering customers daily redemption rights while investing in stuff that may prove hard to sell when times get tough, a Bloomberg View reported. The problem they and their fellow regulators face is that market liquidity is an elusive, contradictory thing: It can be reliably ever-present when it isn’t needed – only to vanish as soon as it’s desperately desired. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is unequivocal in his condemnation of the status quo.

Sports Direct International Plc shares headed toward a seven-year low after the U.K. sports-apparel retailer delayed publishing its results as auditors increase their scrutiny of its accounting, Bloomberg News reported. The U.K. retailer said Monday it needs more time to compile information as regulators review Grant Thornton’s audit of its fiscal 2018 results, and that the review may affect its financial guidance. The shares fell as much as 14% in morning trading in London.

Shopping centre and high-street landlords have been asked to lower rents on unprofitable stores as struggling retailers seek ways to keep their businesses afloat and cut costs. But property owners have grown increasingly resistant, prompting some chains to consider an alternative approach, the Financial Times reported. Last month Philip Green was forced to tweak a plan to close or secure significantly lower rents on stores leased by his Arcadia business.

Britain’s four largest privately owned care home operators have racked up debts of £40,000 a bed, meaning their annual interest charges alone absorb eight weeks of average fees paid by local authorities on behalf of residents, the Financial Times reported.

St Helens College is at “high risk of insolvency” without action to mitigate its financial position following an underfunded merger, according to an FE Commissioner report. The college did not properly predict how much money it would need for a 2017 merger with Knowsley College to form the SK Colleges Group, which was supported by £14.1 million from the ESFA’s restructuring facility, FE Week reported. As a consequence of which, FE Commissioner Richard Atkins wrote in a report published today, the current underlying position of the college is “not sustainable”.

Europe’s financial centre is splitting up, possibly for the better. Dublin has gained a lot of new business from London’s exodus, becoming the top choice of firms seeking higher ground post-Brexit, The Irish Times reported. Now Ireland must decide whether it wants to be a leader or a counterweight in Europe’s financial future. With the departure of the UK as the financial industry’s primary voice, the EU will have a chance to redefine how it approaches its banking and capital markets.