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An official report reveals that most businesses benefiting from £23bn in Covid grants could have survived without the aid, raising concerns over government spending. The report highlights inefficiencies in the allocation of funds and potential lessons for future crisis management.

Rishi Sunak’s Future Fund has issued winding up petitions to 32 companies it backed during the pandemic, aiming to recover £5 million in taxpayer loans, pushing many into liquidation.

Government borrowing in the UK reached £15bn in May, the highest since the Covid crisis, although it was lower than the forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Starling Bank faces increased scrutiny over its Covid-era lending as it takes legal action against defaulting companies, while also being investigated for compliance with money-laundering regulations.

Analysis reveals a significant surge in takeaway consumption in the UK, outpacing dining at pubs and restaurants. While economists attribute this shift to enduring effects of the pandemic, anti-obesity campaigners raise concerns over its impact on public health. Business Matters delves into the evolving eating habits reshaping the nation’s food landscape.

Wetherspoon, the pub chain, has experienced a significant surge in profits, marking an eightfold increase, as it continues its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a significant move to support Britain’s small businesses, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to announce an extension of the Covid recovery loan programme by two years in the upcoming Budget on Wednesday.

Sotheby’s sold a near-record of almost $8bn (£6.3bn) of art and other collectables last year, including a Pablo Picasso masterpiece of his “golden muse” that fetched $139m.

Two million more people will be claiming disability benefits by the end of the decade as mental health problems help to push the cost to taxpayers up by more than 50 per cent.

One of the world’s largest insurance companies has been forced to pay thousands of pounds in interest to small businesses whose Covid insurance payout claims were delayed.

Just two per cent of Covid fraud tip-offs are being investigated, the government has admitted.

Rishi Sunak’s “eat out to help out” scheme will come under scrutiny at the Covid inquiry on Monday, with the prime minister facing the committee while fighting off increasing hostility from his own MPs.

The British economy has been held back by a flight of workers from the jobs market and staff electing to work fewer hours after the pandemic, tied to overly generous Covid government spending, a report has claimed.