1 Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, will raise its maximum age limit from 75 to 80 years old as banks adapt to an ageing population. Scottish Widows, also owned by Lloyds Banking Group, will bring in the same new rule.
2 Ministers have abandoned efforts to deliver superfast broadband to about a million homes, and a pledge by BT to spend £6 billion during the next three years to improve broadband speeds and mobile coverage to avert a break-up of the company has been criticised by analysts and rivals, who say that far more needs to be done.
3 Sir Philip Green has reacted furiously to suggestions that his knighthood could be jeopardised by the collapse of BHS, calling for the resignation of Frank Field, one of the MPs leading an inquiry into the affair. The billionaire retailer also demanded an end to the “trial by media” that has seen his reputation besmirched.
4 Growth in Britain came to a near standstill in April after the dominant services sector, which covers everything from restaurants to banking, experienced its worst month in three years.
5 More than £1.1 billion was sliced from the value of Centrica after the owner of British Gas scrambled to shore up its balance sheet with an unexpected share placing.
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6 Reckitt Benckiser has become the latest company to suffer a shareholder rebellion over pay, with almost a fifth of votes at its annual meeting cast against the chief executive’s £23 million package.
7 Government plans to build a million homes by the end of the decade have been dismissed by the companies that stand to benefit. More than half of English housebuilders believe the target is unachievable because of a shortage of skills and land, according to directors and owners from almost 400 building firms.
8 Pension fund shortfalls at Britain’s biggest companies have worsened for the third month running, adding to the anxiety that has been triggered by the travails of Tata Steel and BHS.
9 Rolls-Royce shares fell after the aerospace and engineering giant warned that it would barely make a profit in the first half of this year. The unexpected statement came at the company’s annual meeting at which there was a protest over the appointment of the US activist investor Brad Singer to the board.
10 Britain’s first new standalone national newspaper in three decades became yesterday’s news when Trinity Mirror killed off the title nine weeks after it was launched. The New Day, was hit by circulation falling to about 30,000 from 150,000 at the end of February.