Nationwide Building Society, the U.K.'s largest customer-owned lender, said full-year pretax profit rose 3.4 percent as higher impairments in its property finance business offset growth at its consumer unit.

International Monetary Fund predicted the economy would grow 6.75 per cent in the 2013/2014 financial year, driven by gas production and investment.

As David Cameron begins an EU offensive on tax avoidance, Oxfam accuses the Government of hypocrisy in its approach. 8:11am UK, Wednesday 22 May 2013.

Inflation is expected to edge down to 2.7 per cent in April from 2.8 per cent in March as lower petrol prices help keep inflation under control.

Fiat Industrial aims to move its tax residency to the UK from Italy after a merger with US business CNH to take advantage of a lighter fiscal regime, according to a regulatory filing.