THE DAILY BRIEFING

CARE CRISIS the number of care home firms entering insolvency has risen 83pc – from 81 in 2016/17 to 148 in 2017/18, according to accountants Moore Stephens. It comes as Four Seasons, which has 330 homes, is being handed to creditor H/ 2 Capital after it became unable to pay its debts.

SUB PRIME Defence firm BAE Systems has won a £1.5bn contract to build the Royal navy’s seventh astute class attack submarine and a further £900m for the next phase of the Dreadnought submarine. the contracts will support 8,000 jobs in Barrow, Cumbria.

DIGITAL BANK High Street lender Santander is to launch a digital bank under a separate brand. It will focus on small firms and offer services including help with payroll and pensions.

MONEY POT a £2bn finance pot is being launched by Lloyds

Banking Group to help businesses lower their environmental footprint. the Clean Growth Finance scheme aims to encourage businesses to reduce carbon emissions, invest in low-carbon vehicles and improve water efficiency.

EAT UP the number of restaurants in England has increased by 13pc since 2009 – from 22,230 to 25,070, according to peer-to-peer lending platform Lendy.

NO VOTE Shareholder advisory group Pirc has recommended that

BP investors vote against the reelection of chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg at the AGM next week.

MPs ATTACK a report published by MPS this week is expected to attack the Pensions Regulator for its role before the collapse of builder Carillion in January. they are believed to criticise the watchdog for not doing enough to protect workers’ pensions as the Government contractor’s finances went into freefall.