For the past 20 years, the border has existed on paper alone: Britain and the Republic of Ireland are both members of the European Union and its common marketplace. So people, goods and livestock can come and go as they please, traversing the mostly invisible line without tariffs or bureaucratic hindrance. But Britain’s looming exit from the European bloc, known widely as Brexit, threatens to make the old border real again — a factor that has long collided with any prospect of a smooth divorce, according to a New York Times analysis.

Over 300 employees at a technology factory in Livingston, Scotland, lost their jobs on Christmas Eve - and been told they won’t get paid, The Daily Record reported. Workers at the Kaiam manufacturing plant were told the news at a meeting on Monday with 312 of the 338 staff being made redundant. And in a further blow to employees they were told they will not receive their outstanding wages and will have to go through the Insolvency Service to get their money, which could take weeks.

Interserve said it had reached a deal with its lenders to defer a debt payment due early next year and was considering handing them its profitable building materials business RMDK as it works to avert a Carillion-style collapse, Reuters reported. “The key commercial principles on which the Deleveraging Plan is expected to be based have now been conditionally agreed between Interserve and all lenders,” the British construction and services company said in a statement on Friday.

Six “rogue directors” have been disqualified for a total of 54 years after misleading more than 300 people to invest millions of pounds in property developments across the north of England, the Yorkshire Post reported. An international investigation began after Liverpool-based Absolute Living Developments collapsed in 2016, owing at least £12m to buy-to-let investors. Among the company’s developments were three former office buildings in Bradford which were being turned into flats.

Plans by Ireland’s banks to issue up to €10 billion in unsecured debt could be dealt a blow by a hard Brexit, the Sunday Times reports, citing concern from regulators, The Irish Times reported. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, access by Irish banks to London’s debt markets could be cut off. AIB and Bank of Ireland must each raise between €3 billion and €5 billion by 2020 from bondholders while Permanent TSB must raise €900 million, the newspaper says.

Aim is supposed to help young, risky high-growth companies access money from investors before they move on to the main market, the Financial Times reported. So why is Renold, a 154-year-old manufacturer, considering a transfer the other way? The maker of industrial chain, gears and couplings said it could switch to Aim within weeks. The uncharitable might say a company with a market capitalisation of about £72m belongs on London’s junior market. Renold has fallen fast in the past few years after being crunched by the manufacturing slowdown after the financial crisis.

Interserve said it had reached a deal with its lenders to defer a debt payment due early next year and was considering handing them its profitable building materials business RMDK as it works to avert a Carillion-style collapse, Reuters reported. “Interserve continues to be in constructive discussions with its lenders, who are fully supportive of Interserve’s business plan and management team,” the British construction and services company said in a statement on Friday.

Interserve Plc has merged two of its businesses to simplify its organization, the British support services and construction firm said on Wednesday, days after starting rescue talks with creditors, Reuters reported. The company said it combined its citizen services division, which handles everything from rehabilitation of low-risk offenders to education and workplace training and nursing care, with its support services unit that manages outsourced facilities. The support services unit is managed directly by Interserve CEO Debbie White.

U.K. regulators proposed sweeping changes to rules governing British audit firms on Tuesday in moves designed to increase competition, prevent conflicts of interest and restore public confidence in an industry tarnished by an accounting scandal that led to the collapse of one of Britain’s largest construction companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The measures, if implemented, would see audit firms separate their auditing and consulting operations, introduce two-firm audits for large companies and replace the current auditing regulator.

HMV Retail, part of what was once the U.K.’s biggest seller of music and movies, will wind up its stores in Hong Kong after a quarter century as the rise of streaming services from Spotify Technology SA and Netflix Inc. make CDs and DVDs obsolete, Bloomberg News reported. The chain’s owner, HMV Digital China Group Ltd., said yesterday that it appointed liquidators for the unit. The decision came after the music-store chain, known for its logo of a cock-eared dog listening to a gramophone, defaulted on various payments and became insolvent, it said.