Britain on Thursday told its antitrust regulator to get behind its push for economic growth and minimise uncertainty for businesses by making more timely, transparent and responsive interventions in merger control, digital markets and consumer protection, Reuters reported. Since taking power last year, the Labour government has stepped up pressure on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and other regulators, demanding they play their part in tearing down barriers that hold back growth. The CMA is independent but it follows a "strategic steer" set by the secretary of state for business.

The European Union wants a trade deal with the U.S. that sees a larger reduction in tariffs than negotiations with the U.K. and China have so far yielded, officials from the bloc said Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. President Trump imposed a series of tariffs that affect Europe’s makers of automobiles, steel and aluminum. On April 2, he announced a sharp rise in tariffs on all imports from Europe, but a week later reduced the increase to 10% for 90 days to allow for negotiations. Last week, the U.S. and the U.K.

A UK division of Sanjeev Gupta’s steel empire faces insolvency, after its parent withdrew a restructuring plan that was fiercely rejected by creditors, Bloomberg Law reported. Speciality Steel UK Ltd., an operator of plants in northern England, was unable to get creditors to agree to a plan to reduce its liabilities within an acceptable time frame ahead of a London court hearing on May 15, GFG Alliance said in a statement. The bulk of the business’s creditors relate to funding provided to Gupta’s GFG Alliance by Greensill Capital before it collapsed in 2021.

Creditors in U.S. chipmaker Wolfspeed offered roughly $600M to refinance a large convertible bond coming due in 2026, to pre-empt a potential bankruptcy filing, The Financial Times reported. The offer comes after Wolfspeed announced last week that it was considering a bankruptcy filing after negotiations to restructure the bond reached an impasse.

UK wage growth slowed down in the three months to March 2025, as businesses braced for national insurance increases which came into effect at the beginning of April, EuroNews.com reported. Regular pay excluding bonuses in the UK grew by 5.6% on an annual basis to £671 (€798.3) a week in the three months to March 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was below the 5.9% seen in the previous period, while being less than analyst estimates of 5.7% as well.

Amigo Holdings PLC on Monday said it needs funding by early July to avoid insolvency as Chief Executive Officer Kerry Penfold steps down, Alliance News reported. Amigo is a Bournemouth, England-based former mid-cost credit provider now in an orderly solvent wind-down. The company said Kerry Penfold will immediately step down as CEO of the public limited company, but will remain CEO of the firm's subsidiaries until the end of May. Chief Restructuring Officer Nicholas Beal will join the board as an executive director and will take on Penfold's responsibilities alongside his existing role.

Britain’s £60bn textile industry faces a wave of insolvencies because of the Government’s new trade deal with India, an insurer has warned, The Telegraph reported. A free trade agreement unveiled last week means factories will be forced to compete with imports from Indian businesses who have cheaper labour costs and can undercut domestic UK manufacturers, trade insurance company Coface warned. Textile imports from India currently face 10pc to 20pc tariffs – meaning that British firms with tight margins will struggle to keep up once these are slashed to zero.

Australian hospital operator Healthscope Ltd., owned by a unit of Brookfield Corp., is trying to avoid company receivership by asking lenders to support a plan that will give them board control, after struggling to pay interest on an outstanding A$1.6 billion ($1 billion) loan. Under the plan, lenders have the ability to appoint their own board nominees as soon as they’re in a position to do so, Healthscope said in a Monday statement, adding that it has sent all financiers a letter detailing and committing to the transition of control.