Like its rivals in Britain, the Royal Bank of Scotland has been unable to escape criticism from shareholders over the amount of compensation that bankers are paid, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Earlier this year, United Kingdom Financial Investments, which oversees the British government’s 81 percent stake in the bank, forced R.B.S. to drop a proposal to pay bankers bonuses of up to two times their annual salaries.

The City’s dramatic revival means inner London is now the only part of the UK to have returned to pre-recession levels of job creation, The Independent reported. A TUC report to be published today reveals a two-speed recovery in Britain’s economy with the capital booming while other parts of the country continue to struggle. The TUC Touchstone pamphlet – Equitable Full Employment: A Jobs Recover for All –paints a picture of a static labour market with people clinging grimly on to the jobs they have outside the capital.

Tragus, the owner of Café Rouge and Bella Italia has secured the backing of landlords to go ahead with a controversial restructuring that will slash its rental bill and put the company on more stable financial footing, The Telegraph reported. Between 80pc and 90pc of landlords and creditors supported the company voluntary arrangement (CVA) plans at a meeting yesterday on Friday.

The UK economic recovery has been dealt a blow after figures showed retail insolvencies have hit an unexpected five-year high and the number of shoppers visiting high streets fell for the second month in a row, The Telegraph reported. Almost 1,300 retailers were declared insolvent during 2013, an increase of 12pc on a year earlier, as rapid expansion of the supermarket convenience store format drove the UK’s cornershops and traditional small retailers to the brink, according to accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy.

British finance minister George Osborne said on Thursday that he would give the Bank of England stronger powers to curb mortgage lending and reduce the risks that the housing market poses to financial stability, Reuters reported. British house prices have risen by 11 percent over the past year and are close to pre-crisis levels. The International Monetary Fund urged Britain last week to take steps to cool the housing market and reduce the risk of a bubble. Osborne said the housing market was not an immediate threat to Britain's financial stability but could become one in future.

British coal producer Hargreaves Services has withdrawn a loan offer to rival miner UK Coal saying it could not agree to a loan plan with other parties discussing the managed shutdown of UK Coal, Reuters reported. UK Coal, Britain's largest coal producer, went into administration last year and its business has since deteriorated further due to competition from cheaper coal producing markets and the strength of the pound because it is paid in dollars. Hargreaves Services had been in discussions to provide UK Coal with a 5 million pound ($8.4 million) loan.

Tragus Group, the owner of high-street brands Café Rouge, Bella Italia and Strada, has proposed a sweeping restructuring of the one of the UK’s largest restaurant operators, Insolvency News reported. The company has announced it is proposing implementing an organisational and financial restructuring that would see its significant debts shed or restructured to ensure “a long-term sustainable future for the business”. Under the proposed financial restructuring, Tragus aims to reduce its debt burden from £354m to £91m.

Britain has been urged by the European Commission to tackle the rapid rise in property prices with measures such as reining in the Help to Buy scheme, amid fears the booming housing market is posing a threat to the UK’s economic stability, the Financial Times reported. In its annual assessment of EU member states’ policies to boost growth and jobs, Brussels says the UK government should consider raising taxes on higher value properties, adjust the Help to Buy loan guarantee scheme, mitigate risks related to high mortgage indebtedness and build more houses.

More than 20,000 mortgage customers at the government's "bad bank" could be pushed into arrears if interest rates rise by a percentage point, its chief executive said on Tuesday, The Guardian reported. A rise of that scale would more than double the number of UK Asset Resolution's customers in arrears from under 16,000 two months ago. Richard Banks, who heads UKAR, said: "Our view, from customer research we have done and our modelling, is that if interest rates went up to 1.5% about 22,000 more customers might go into arrears.

Almost a quarter of employers running final salary pension schemes face a substantial increase in the annual levy they pay into the pensions lifeboat fund under proposals announced on Thursday. In a consultation document, the Pensions Protection Fund, which continues to pay benefits to scheme members if their employer goes bust, unveiled plans for a radical overhaul of the way it assesses the insolvency risk of schemes paying the levy.