Business week in pictures

The gravity of the high street downturn was spelt out in new research showing that UK retail chains have been closing stores this year at a rate of about 20 a day. The alarming statistic came as closing-down sales at TJ Hughes's 57 department stores got under way. The Liverpool-based chain has gone into administration, putting more than 4,000 jobs at risk. The administrators, Ernst & Young, said they were holding talks with more than 30 prospective buyers, but analysts suggested the chain, nearly a century old, would be broken up and shops auctioned off.
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Earlier in the week, the administrators of collapsed kitchen and bathroom showroom group Homeform made nearly 600 workers redundant and warned that some customers, who put down cash deposits adding up to £1.5m, could lose their money. The Manchester-based company, which trades as Moben Kitchens, Dolphin Bathrooms, Sharps Bedrooms and Kitchens Direct, warned last month that it was facing insolvency and now Deloitte has been formally appointed as administrator. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Investors in companies controlled by Rupert Murdoch have been dumping their shares amid fears on both sides of the Atlantic over the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World. Shares in broadcaster BSkyB were down 5% on the week, wiping some £666m off the value of the business, while News Corp had lost 2.6% – slicing some $400m off the value of the News of the World's ultimate parent company. Many hedge funds that had bought into BSkyB in the hope of making a quick profit from the bid have been selling the shares on fears that the deal now faces substantial delay. Photograph: KI PRICE/AFP/Getty Images

A fall in industrial output and cuts in public services put the brakes on the UK's recovery in the three months to the end of June, according to a leading thinktank. On the day that the Bank of England kept the cost of borrowing at its historic low, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research estimated that growth slipped from 0.5% in the three months to May to 0.1% in the three months to June. The figures suggest almost 10 months of zero growth in the UK as each surge is largely cancelled out by contraction or near-contraction in the following months. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Bombardier, the last remaining train maker in the UK, announced plans to cut nearly half its workforce in the wake of the government's decision last month to select Siemens of Germany for a £3bn contract. Trade union leaders and local politicians rounded on the prime minister, who had brought his cabinet to Derby amid talk of weaning the economy off financial services and pledging to 'do everything we can to help local businesses create jobs'. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, tightened the screws on Greece, Portugal and Ireland on Thursday by pressing ahead with an increase in interest rates, and insisting the single currency's weakest members must avoid a default at all costs. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/REUTERS

The day before, fears that the eurozone crisis was entering a new stage intensified after Portugal's credit rating was slashed to junk, with European bank shares falling sharply and some government bonds coming under renewed pressure. Portuguese bank shares tumbled, while the yield – or effective interest rate – required to get investors to hold the country's debt jumped sharply. Photograph: Rafael Marchante/Reuters

On Monday, German and French proposals to restructure up to €30bn (£28bn) of Greek government debts were thrown into disarray after ratings agency Standard & Poor's said they amounted to a 'selective default'. The decision placed Germany and France on a potentially disastrous collision course with the ECB. The proposals would have seen investors inject billions of euros into Greece by rolling over maturing Greek debt into new 30-year bonds. They are part of a broader €110bn rescue package, the details of which have yet to be finalised. Photograph: Orestis Panagiotou/EPA

Following the scandal that engulfed Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund has tightened up the standards of behaviour expected from its managing director. The IMF instructed new MD Christine Lagarde to observe the 'highest standards of ethical conduct' as she began her tenure this week. Photograph: Rex Features/Keystone USA-Zuma

Almost a third of the 91 banks in Europe subjected to tests of their ability to withstand shocks to the financial system are likely to need some form of external support, said the ratings agency Moody's. While Andrea Enria, pictured, the chairman of the European Banking Authority, insisted it was impossible to speculate on the number of banks that would fail the Europe-wide stress tests, Moody's used its credit ratings to assess the outcome. Photograph: Brian Capon/British Bankers' Ass/PA

Hard-pressed consumers face higher grocery bills after new figures showed that food prices jumped by 1.3% in June to within a whisker of their record high. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) food price index increased by 3 points to 234 points last month – a 39% increase on the year – as concerns about weak Brazilian sugar production sent sugar prices soaring by 14%, outweighing a decline in cereal costs. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

Burberry faces a revolt over executive pay after a lobby group urged its members to vote against the luxury fashion house's remuneration plans. Pirc, which advises pension funds and asset managers, described rewards for executives as 'excessive'. It pointed to a one-off £5.8m share payment last year to chief executive Angela Ahrendts, which was equivalent to nearly six times her base salary of £990,000. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Mike Ashley, the founder of Sports Direct, announced plans to team up with Scottish retail tycoon Sir Tom Hunter to try to rid the sports chain of its discount image and take it more upmarket. Sports Direct is acquiring majority stakes in the USC and Cruise Clothing fashion chains controlled by Hunter. Photograph: Matthew Chattle/Alamy