THE DAILY BRIEFING

DEPARTMENT SALE Chinese tycoon Yuan Yafei could be putting House of Fraser on the market.

Yafei, head of the Sanpower conglomerate, bought the department chain two years ago for £450m. But it was been reported that it could now be sold to C.banner – another Chinese outfit run by Yafei’s brother-in-law Chen Yixi.

MILLIONAIRE OUTBURST The founder of scandal-hit claims management firm Quindell has labelled its new management ‘stupid’ after their actions saw him investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.

Rob Terry quit in August last year, and incoming chairman Richard Rose changed its 2013 accounting figures to show a £64m loss instead of a £107m profit.

Quindell is now known as Watchstone Group. SEOUL MATES Pottery business Denby has made a comeback after winning unexpected interest in South Korea.

The 200-year-old firm was rescued out of administration by Hilco in 2009 and has since doubled annual sales to £50m. It has now opened a site in Gangnam, the Seoul district made famous by 2012 pop hit Gangnam Style, and a third of turnover comes from overseas. ENGINEERING OFFER One of Britain’s oldest engineering firms has been put on the market by owner Dubai International Capital.

Doncasters, a 238-year-old firm based in Burton-upon-Trent in East Staffordshire, has a £1.2bn price tag. ECONOMY WOES The recovery faltered at the start of the year as worries about the global economy and Britain’s future in the European Union took their toll.

The Office for National Statistics is this week expected to report that output in the first quarter of 2016 rose by far less than the 0.6pc expansion seen in the final quarter of last year.