The Bank of England is likely on Thursday to opt for a pause in bond purchases aimed at boosting the economy after Britain exited recession and some rate-setters voiced doubts about the policy's bite. The central bank has bought a total of 375 billion pounds- worth of British government bonds since the 2007-08 financial crisis, completing the latest round of purchases last week. Economists have been paring back expectations of more buying, or quantitative easing, in November since data showed late last month surprisingly strong GDP growth between July and September.

British retail sales slowed sharply in October as Britons limited to spending to essentials such as food and drink, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday, dampening hopes that consumers will drive the economic recovery, Reuters reported. Like-for-like retail sales - a measure that strips out changes in floor space and is favoured by equity analysts - fell by 0.1 percent in value terms on the year, the BRC said, making October one of the worst months for the sector this year.

UK personal insolvency figures are predicted to fall further tomorrow, but experts warned the recent improving trend is likely to hit a turning point soon, with large numbers of people still living on the brink, The Telegraph reported. Charles Turner, vice-president of the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA), expects personal insolvencies to fall further from the four-year low set in the second quarter of this year to around 26,600 in official figures for the third quarter published tomorrow.

British electricals retailer Comet is set to enter into administration next week, the latest household name to fall by the wayside in the consumer downturn. Directors of the struggling company, which employs 6,500 staff in 240 stores, filed a notice on Thursday to a British court, a spokesman confirmed on Thursday. "Comet Group Limited can confirm that it has taken steps to seek the protection of the court with a view to the company entering into administration during week commencing Nov 5," the spokesman said.

Manganese Bronze Holdings Plc, maker of London's black taxi, said it appointed accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrator as it looks to secure funding after a safety issue led to a product recall and a halt in sales, Reuters reported. "The administrators are reviewing the group's current financial position to develop a range of options to rescue the business or alternatively dispose of its assets to an investor that can secure the future of the London taxi," the company said.

A group of senior creditors in debt-laden Hibu are threatening to push the publisher of the Yellow Pages into liquidation, after the company failed to repay a £65m tranche of debt, the Financial Times reported. Last week, the telephone directory publisher, formerly known as Yell, said that it would suspend all further payments of principal and interest until it could restructure its £2.2bn net debt pile.

Scotland's largest architecture firm RMJM Group has performed a major corporate shake-up by putting three of its subsidiaries into receivership, The Herald Scotland reported. Insolvency professionals were appointed to RMJM Limited, RMJM Scotland and RMJM London after directors concluded the businesses could no longer continue to trade. In a statement, RMJM Group, run by Sir Fraser Morrison and his son Peter, said there was "a deep sense of regret" over the move.

Hibu, the crisis-hit publisher of Yellow Pages, said it would halt repayments to its lenders as it waits for a restructure, warning shareholders that their holdings are likely to end up worthless, The Telegraph reported. The company, formerly known as Yell, has been crippled by the rapid rise of internet search engines such as Google and the debts it racked up during an acquisition spree overseas. Hibu’s lenders, to which it owes £2.3bn, are expecting a debt-for-equity swap, which will see creditors take over the company.

Punch Taverns said it was in talks to restructure its debt after the leased pub group posted a sharp drop in full-year profit, blaming Britain's wet summer and disruption caused by a major business overhaul, Reuters reported. Like many British pub companies, Punch was hit hard by the country's double-dip recession and is trying to reduce 2.1 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) of debt built up before the economic downturn. Punch said on Wednesday that the cost of servicing that debt was unsustainable and it was in discussions with major shareholders and other stakeholders over a restructuring.

One of the biggest puzzles facing the Bank of England is why British labor productivity has been so poor since the financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal The Source blog reported. This matters, because it suggests the economy has little capacity to grow before inflation becomes a concern. So far, the BOE has largely shrugged off the productivity puzzle as an anomaly. It could be that productivity growth has only apparently been poor because GDP growth has been under-reported. That’s because of accounting identities: the U.K.