The UK’s biggest provider of apprenticeships is to change hands for the second time in less than a month after the man who purchased Learndirect on June 23 agreed to sell its apprenticeships arm for £1 to Staffline, the listed employment agency. The sale comes less than a month after Lloyds Development Capital, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, sold the whole of the troubled Learndirect business to Stonebridge Group, a privately owned company controlled by Wayne Janse Van Rensburg, a South African-born entrepreneur, the Financial Times reported.

British department store retailer Debenhams said it had a healthy cash position after a media report on Sunday saying insurers had cut cover for its suppliers sent its shares lower, the Irish Times reported. Shares in Debenhams fell as much as 8 per cent on Monday on the back of a Sunday Times report that the retailer, which has issued three profit warnings this year, was facing a cash crunch after credit insurers reduced or refused cover for its suppliers.

Over a quarter of UK companies have suffered a hit to their finances following the insolvency of a customer, supplier or debtor in the last six months, according to new research, Business Matters reported. The research found the financial impact of the insolvency of another business was described as “very negative” by one in ten UK companies, and as “somewhat negative” by 16 per cent of respondents. The figures are evidence of the so-called ‘domino effect’, where one company’s insolvency will increase the insolvency risk for others.

Administrators for SCL Elections, an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica, attempted to sell the company but only received four proposals, including an offer for £1 for the scandal ridden data firm’s brand name, according to a corporate filing on Saturday. Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections and several other related companies in May began Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings in the US and filed for insolvency in the UK after the fallout from revelations about Cambridge Analytica’s role in a massive leak of Facebook data, the Financial Times reported.

Britain’s government, in a plan unveiled on Thursday, envisions a new, special arrangement for the country’s large financial sector after Britain leaves the European Union next year, the International New York Times reported. It remains to be seen, though, if the bloc’s officials will accept the proposal. In the new plan, Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, abandoned previous hopes of a so-called “mutual recognition” of financial regulations between the United Kingdom and Europe.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has been prompted by the collapse of the UK outsourcer Carillion to look at setting up a list of public-sector service suppliers, to help avoid the State becoming too exposed to individual firms, the Irish Times reported. Speaking at a Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on Thursday, NTMA chief executive Conor O’Kelly said that such a list would allow procurement officials in departments and Government agencies to assess if Irish taxpayers had too much exposure to certain “counterparties”.

Britain has given up trying to keep full access to the European Union market for its giant financial services sector after Brexit and instead will push for an easing of existing rules, the Financial Times reported. Prime Minister Theresa May's latest plans for Brexit, which will be published in detail on Thursday, show that London will seek a looser partnership with the EU in the financial services sector than its current ties, the newspaper said, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Baby goods retailer Mothercare is seeking to raise £32.5m from existing shareholders and will increase the number of store closures as it struggles to adapt to challenging conditions on the UK’s high streets. The capital raising, which is larger than originally planned, will be at 19p a share, well below Friday’s closing level of 28.6p, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt, the Financial Times reported. Mothercare’s shares fell 9 per cent in early London trade to 26p.

The collapse of Carillion exposed the risks of using private companies to cut the cost of delivering public services and its failure could be repeated if the government does not learn lessons, lawmakers said on Monday. Carillion, which employed 43,000 people to provide services in defense, education, health and transport, collapsed in January, becoming the largest construction bankruptcy in British history, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. It left creditors and the firm's pensioners facing steep losses and put thousands of jobs at risk.

Britain’s accounting watchdog is investigating KPMG’s audit of drinks firm Conviviality’s financial statements, weeks after highlighting an “unacceptable deterioration” in the auditor’s work with top British firms, Reuters reported. KPMG denied any shortcomings in its audit of Conviviality, which entered administration in April. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is probing Conviviality’s financial statements for the year ended April 2017. The FRC also said it was looking into the preparation and approval of Conviviality’s financial statements and other financial information.