United Kingdom

Irish high net-worth individuals who invested £92 million in the Quinlan Private-led purchase of a portfolio of almost 50 Marriott hotels in the UK in 2007 have seen their investment wiped out, after a receiver was appointed to the portfolio of hotels, the Irish Times reported. Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Ernst & Young as receiver to over 42 Marriott hotels in one of the largest ever corporate restructurings of the hotel sector.

The North’s Minister for Finance Sammy Wilson has warned that lowering corporation tax must not be “debilitating” to the Northern Ireland economy, the Irish Times reported. He told business people at Stormont yesterday that harmonising such tax rates with the South could cost the North up to £385 million annually in reduced subvention from Westminster. Mr Wilson said while the Northern Executive favoured reducing corporation tax there was a “huge amount of uncertainty” over what would be the impact of such a move on jobs, investment and public expenditure.

A trio of magic circle firms are advising on the high-profile restructuring of Southern Cross as the troubled care homes group attempts to reach a deal with landlords over unpaid rent, LegalWeek.com reported. The negotiations have attracted intense media attention in recent weeks amid fears that the group may have to close some of its homes due to difficulties in paying a multimillion-pound rent bill. Clifford Chance (CC) is advising Southern Cross on its restructuring.

Chancellor George Osborne will use a major speech on Wednesday to throw his weight behind recommendations that banks' retail arms should be ring-fenced from their investment banking operations, Reuters reported. Treasury sources said Osborne will endorse recommendations from the Independent Commission on Banking that banks structure in a way that their retail business would be unharmed if their investment banking operations hit trouble. The banking commission made preliminary suggestions in April and will publish a final report in September.

U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable Thursday ruled out a government rescue plan for struggling care home operator Southern Cross Healthcare Group PLC, despite unions urging intervention to protect the company's 31,000 elderly residents, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Speaking in the House of Commons, Cable promised that any resident who lost their place in a Southern Cross home would be re-housed. The business secretary also pledged to increase scrutiny of private companies providing public services.

Britain’s big banks are on schedule to beat lending targets set in a government peace deal this year, it has emerged, undermining mounting criticism from senior politicians that loan volumes are too low, the Financial Times reported. A government minister last week revealed details of the targets for actual lending set in the Project Merlin accord, struck between banks and the government in February. The secret numbers – dubbed “stretch targets” – are about 10 per cent below the official “capacity targets” published in the Merlin announcement.

Embattled care home operator Southern Cross said there had been no decision to close any of its homes after a newspaper reported that it planned to cede control of 132 premises as part of a financial overhaul, Reuters reported. "No decision has been taken to close any of our homes," Southern Cross Chairman Christopher Fisher said in a statement on Friday. "Our primary concern in this matter remains the welfare of the residents living in our homes.

Recruiters filled permanent and temporary vacancies at the slowest pace in seven months in May, a survey showed Wednesday, adding to worries about the strength of the economic recovery, Reuters reported. Research for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and accounting firm KPMG showed private sector job creation slowed at a time when the government hopes companies will pick up the slack left by public cuts. The figures will fuel fears that the economic recovery is struggling to gather pace in the second quarter after output stagnated over the previous six months.

Britain does not need to change its current economic policies as recent weak growth and high inflation is likely to be temporary, but a new approach may be needed if these problems persist, the IMF said on Monday, Reuters reported. In an annual report on the UK economy, the International Monetary Fund broadly endorsed the deficit-reduction policies being pursued by the ruling coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, which the opposition say are causing weaker growth. The IMF said the government should maintain its current course.

Insolvencies in the British construction sector surged in the first quarter, rising for the first time in two years and raising fears that government cuts were hitting the sector harder than first feared, Reuters reported. The number of businesses going bankrupt climbed 19 percent to 948 from 796 in the prior quarter as fiscal stimulus for infrastructure projects dried up, according to a report from Wilkins Kennedy. Government plans to scrap public sector building programmes, such as Building Schools for the Future, has fuelled bankruptcies and fears of a prolonged downturn.