The mutual needs to raise as much as �1.8bn to repair its bank's balance sheet and said on Friday that it was �undertaking an extensive review� of the business.

HSBC chairman Douglas Flint publicly apologised to shareholders yesterday for the bank's failings after it was fined �1.3 billion in December following a probe into its Mexican and stateside operations.

SSE and RWE npower have been given the go-ahead for a �1 billion offshore wind farm. Galloper, a 50:50 joint venture between the two utilities, has received development consent from the UK government for the 140-turbine site 16 miles off the Suffolk coast.

Households paid off �241m more mortgage debt than they borrowed in an effort to get on top of their debts. Before May last year, net lending had never been negative since the BBA started collecting the data in 1997.

CALLS are growing for a public inquiry into failures to clean up coal mines across Scotland after a new report revealed a potential �60m shortfall in funds for one region alone.

Britain came within six hours of running out of natural gas in March, according to a senior energy official, highlighting the risk of supply shortages amid declining domestic production and a growing reliance on imports.

Paul Fishe: 'I don't want to get into the American position of saying it is indefinite and then stopping'. Picture: Contributed.

PRIVATE equity group 3i is to take over the European infrastructure fund management business of Barclays bank to boost its fee income from public-private partnerships and energy investment projects.

The pursuit of Severn Trent Water by foreign investors will interest investors during a quieter week for corporate updates, as the latest position on the takeover interest looks set to dominate the water giant's annual results.

Business leaders and politicians have raised concerns over the future of Inverness's links with London Gatwick. A three-times-a-day service operated by Flybe is in doubt following the airline's decision to sell all of its take-off and landing slots at Gatwick.