Crawshaw Group Plc became the latest British retailer to be hit by tough trading conditions, as it announced plans on Wednesday to appoint administrators to seek buyers after failed discussions with investors to raise capital, Reuters reported. The Rotherham-based butcher, which said that it does not have sufficient cash to restructure, has requested its trading on LSE’s junior market to be suspended. Crawshaw shares have lost 82.2 percent in value so far this year. Administrators are a form of creditor protection in the United Kingdom.

Sports Direct International Plc, the sportswear group controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley, said on Wednesday it had paid 8 million pounds ($10.2 million) to buy Evans Cycles after it fell into administration, Reuters reported. Sports Direct, which plans to keep half of Evans’ 62 stores open, also said about 2 million pounds of the acquisition price was used to fund Evans Cycles’ October payroll. The company has added to an already lengthy list of British investments by buying Evans Cycles on Tuesday.

The number of companies in England and Wales falling into financial distress is rising at the fastest pace since 2009, according to data on Tuesday that suggests the trouble suffered by big firms is indicative of a wider, deep-seated trend, Reuters reported. Department store House of Fraser, fast food chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen and home improvements retailer Homebase are among well-known British businesses to seek creditor protection in recent months.

Two former executives of collapsed oil company Afren were sentenced to up to six years in prison on Monday after they were convicted of fraud and money laundering over a $300 million business deal, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said, Reuters reported. Former Afren Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah and former Chief Operating Officer Shahid Ullah laundered more than $45 million, some of which was used to buy luxury properties in Mustique and the British Virgin Islands, the SFO said. "The significant sentences reflect the seriousness of this fraud.

ScS Group said on Thursday it would stop selling its sofas and carpets at House of Fraser stores from January, saying the partnership had ceased to be beneficial since billionaire Mike Ashley bought the collapsed department store group, Reuters reported. Sports Direct, the British sportswear retailer controlled by Ashley, snapped up House of Fraser and its 58 stores from administrators for 90 million pounds ($116 million) in August.

Two former executives of collapsed oil firm Afren were convicted on Wednesday of fraud and money laundering offences relating to a $300 million business deal, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said, Reuters reported. Former Afren Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah and former Chief Operating Officer Shahid Ullah received more than $17 million and laundered $45 million, some of which was used to buy luxury properties in Mustique and the British Virgin Islands, it said here.

UK Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) filed for a form of bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after running up millions of pounds of losses, the latest British retail name to fall victim of weak consumer spending and high costs, Reuters reported. The chain’s parent, South Africa’s Famous Brands, said the board of GBK had initiated a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for the business that would allow it to avoid insolvency or administration and ensure its continued existence.

The chief executive of Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport, has said he expects some airlines to fall into bankruptcy this winter following a number of recent failures, the Financial Times reported. “You will have a small number of airline failures,” Stewart Wingate told the Financial Times, adding that he did not anticipate any major airlines would collapse Gatwick experienced the failure of a major airline in 2017 when the UK’s Monarch went into administration. Last week, a small Cyprus-based carrier Cobalt Air failed.

A British peer-to-peer property lender has taken the unusual step of appealing to its regulator for help after one of its biggest borrowers threatened to sue the company and many of its investors, the Financial Times reported. Retail investors in Lendy are already facing tens of millions of pounds in potential losses after almost two-thirds of borrowers failed to repay their loans on time, according to a Financial Times analysis of its loanbook.

The U.K.’s largest active manager is taking up arms against what it sees as an imminent liquidity crunch coming to credit markets, Bloomberg News reported. As bouts of late-cycle volatility prompt fears of an impending race for the exits, Aberdeen Standard Investments has been scooping up securities with greater liquidity relative to cash bonds, like credit default swaps.