The UK “now faces another extended period of weak growth”, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The business group has downgraded its 2018 growth GDP forecasts from 1.4% to 1.3%, which would be the worst performance since 2009 when the global economy was dealing with the credit crunch, Economia reported. It has also dropped its 2019 outlook form from 1.5% to 1.4%. The BCC cites uncertainties around Brexit, possible trade wars and rising oil prices and interest rates as factors set to drag on the economy.

In March 2011, just as Britain’s new coalition government was preparing to dramatically cut back on public spending, Carillion paid £306m to buy a company that helped consumers to take advantage of government-funded energy schemes, the Financial Times reported. Even by the now bankrupt outsourcing group’s somewhat indifferent standards, it would be a spectacularly mistimed move.

Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union at 11 p.m. London time on March 29. But Brexit, in the sense of the full extrication of the U.K. from the bloc’s economic orbit, looks more and more likely to take many years, The Wall Street Journal reported. A transition period has already been established in principle with Brussels that would, so long as there is an overall divorce agreement, keep the U.K. in the EU’s customs union and its single market until December 2020. That combination should keep two-way trade flowing as freely as it is now.

Italy poses a big risk to the stability of Europe, despite the recent ceasefire between the new coalition government and the markets — and Brexit will not protect Britain from the fallout, some of Britain’s top financiers have warned. Norman Blackwell, chairman of Lloyds and one of the few senior pro-Brexit figures in the City, suggested Italy’s political turmoil could easily recur because of the challenges of maintaining the fiscal discipline necessary for a European single currency, the Financial Times reported.

British lawmakers are pressing the accounting regulator to divulge details of the misconduct that prompted it to slap unprecedented fines on accountants PwC and a former senior partner over a 2014 audit of now-collapsed retail chain BHS, Reuters reported. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) overnight fined PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of Britain’s Big Four accounting firms, a record 6.5 million pounds ($9 million) and former partner Steve Denison 325,000 pounds over the audit.

Coupons on 525 million pounds ($701.40 million) of debt underpinned by retirement home operator Four Seasons will not be paid, the issuers of the notes said on Wednesday. The owners of Four Seasons recently agreed a deal with investment firm H/2 Capital Partners to restructure the group, transferring ownership to a new owner controlled by its creditors, Reuters reported. The boards of Elli Finance (UK) Plc and Elli Investments, the issuers of the notes, said their respective boards “have concluded that they will not be in a position to pay the coupons due under the Notes on 15 June 2018”.

A partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who audited the accounts of collapsed department store chain BHS, has been fined 500,000 pounds ($668,000) and banned from audit work for 15 years and PwC has been fined 10 million pounds after a two-year inquiry in which they admitted misconduct, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said on Tuesday. The fines would be reduced by 35 percent to 6.5 million pounds for the auditing firm and 325,000 pounds for Steve Denison for agreeing to an early settlement, the FRC said.

British discount retailer Poundworld has gone into administration, putting 5,100 jobs at risk and becoming the latest victim of brutal trading conditions in the UK retail sector, Reuters reported. Business services firm Deloitte said on Monday it had been appointed as Poundworld’s administrator. Private equity group TPG Capital, Poundworld’s majority owner, put the discount retailer up for sale last month but has failed to find a buyer.

Most customers of collapsed UK brokerage Beaufort Securities will not face any costs as a result of the firm’s insolvency, after administrators PwC revised down its fees, the Financial Times reported. The accountancy firm said on Friday it had reached an agreement with creditors and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to cap fees at £10,000 per customer, with many expected to pay far less than that. Fewer than 10 customers, with large cash accounts, are now expected to take a haircut on their funds following a meeting of creditors held on Wednesday.

House of Fraser said it needed to close 31 stores to survive, in a plan likely to result in as many as 6,000 job losses, making the department store group the latest in a long line of retail casualties in Britain, Reuters reported. The closures include the group’s flagship shop on Oxford Street in central London and will leave it with just 28 stores across Britain and Ireland.