Bell Pottinger’s British arm collapsed on Tuesday after the global public relations agency’s clients deserted it over a racially-charged political campaign it ran in South Africa, Reuters reported. After working behind the scenes on some of the most defining moments in recent history, from the election of Margaret Thatcher to the death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Bell Pottinger crumpled following a scandal of its own making.

Tata Steel has ditched its £15bn UK pension fund after receiving the green light from regulators, boosting the prospects of the Port Talbot steelworks. The company said it had received approval from the Pensions Regulator and that it had separated the British Steel Pension Scheme from its UK business. Tata had claimed that the retirement fund was a financial drag that threatened to pull the country’s largest steelmaker into insolvency, throwing thousands of jobs and a bedrock industry into doubt, the Financial Times reported.

Carillion, the struggling construction and outsourcing group, is shaking up its top team in an effort to turn itself round following a profit warning that left the company’s future in doubt, the Financial Times reported. Finance director Zafar Khan is stepping down under an agreement with Keith Cochrane, the former chief executive of Weir who agreed to temporarily run the company following a shock profit warning in July. Emma Mercer, the finance director of Carillion’s construction arm, will take Mr Khan’s place as CFO.

The boards of West Africa-focused Avocet Mining and its Societe des Mines de Belahouro (SMB) subsidiary will resume talks on Friday aimed at saving the struggling gold operation from insolvency, Reuters reported. SMB, which operates the Inata gold mine in Burkina Faso, is is struggling to keep the mine operating after former workers seized a shipment of gold last year and faces possible insolvency after the expiry of a freeze on loan repayments. The boards of SMB and Avocet, which owns 90 percent of the Inata mine, were to meet on Sept. 8 to consider “all available options”, Avocet had said.

The U.K. has gained potential allies in its bid to hold on to the business of clearing euro-denominated derivatives after Brexit, Bloomberg News reported. Sweden said a European Union proposal to allow authorities to force the biggest foreign derivatives-clearing firms to set up shop in the bloc could prove excessive, according to a Sept. 4 document that summarizes the positions of 10 national governments. Spain highlighted the “considerable costs” a location policy would entail, and Ireland warned that it could leave firms scrambling to find clearing alternatives.

Staff at Bell Pottinger have been told that the scandal-hit PR firm is likely to go into administration early next week as attempts to find a buyer to salvage the company look to have failed, the Financial Times reported. According to two people with knowledge of the situation, the stark news was delivered to the company’s employees at its London headquarters on Thursday by chairman Mark Smith and a representative from accountants BDO.

Gold miner Avocet Mining Plc said on Monday it will consider filing for insolvency of its subsidiary Societe des Mines de Belahouro (SMB), which operates the Inata gold mine in Burkina Faso, after the unit’s standstill agreement with its creditors expired, Reuters reported. The boards of SMB and Avocet will meet on Sept. 8 to consider “all available options, including the potential filing of an insolvency petition by SMB”, Avocet said in a statement. SMB’s financial and trade creditors could not agree among themselves on an extension of the agreement, the company said.

As any builder or keen DIYer will tell you, there is a right time — and a wrong time — to attempt certain jobs. Fixing the roof is best attempted when the sun is shining, as one frequent sporter of the high vis was wont to remind us. Concrete is best mixed and poured in cooler conditions, as this columnist’s predecessor can attest (who knew?). And it seems HSS Hire — equipment supplier of choice to the latter, if not the former — is being reminded of this truism as it attempts to fix its own business model, the Financial Times reported.

We are barely a fortnight away from the 10th anniversary of Northern Rock’s dramatic collapse. At the beginning of 2007, the Newcastle-based lender was a darling — loved by investors for its aggressive expansion and by customers for its generous mortgages for 125 per cent of property value. But by mid-September, with funding running out and panicked queues outside branches, it was clear that Britain’s fastest-growing bank had fallen victim to a hubristic faith in the stability of the financial markets, the Financial Times reported.

Louisa Bell, a 75-year-old grandmother from one of Newcastle’s poorer areas, is a typical customer of Provident Financial: several thousand pounds in debt, she is confused by recent turmoil at the company and struggling to make ends meet. But since a profit warning from the UK’s biggest subprime lender sent its share price plummeting this week, the tables have turned and it is now the FTSE 100 group itself that faces worries about running out of money, the Financial Times reported. The crisis has been largely self-inflicted.