Business week in pictures

Britain has sunk back into recession, its first double-dip downturn since the 1970s, piling pressure on the government to soften its austerity drive Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

With the government up to its eyeballs in the phone-hacking scandal and with local elections looming, the timing could hardly have been worse for David Cameron and George Osborne. Pictured: A protest outside the Leveson Inquiry at the High Court in London Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Nervous investors fear that support for François Hollande, and the surprise collapse of the Dutch government, reveal a growing Europe-wide backlash against the austerity policies Brussels believes are the only way of safeguarding the single currency Photograph: Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images

Swiss food giant Nestlé has won a takeover battle for Pfizer's baby food business, beating its French rival Danone with an agreed offer worth $11.85bn (£7.35bn). In the battle to dominate the lucrative baby food market, Nestlé is to acquire brands such as S-26 Gold, SMA and Promil from the US drugmaker, adding them to a portfolio that already includes Nan, Gerber, Lactogen, Nestogen and Cerelac infant cereal Photograph: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A model stands beside a Toyota Fun-Vii concept car. The Beijing Auto Show 2012 started this week, where many of the world's leading carmakers showcased new models Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images

Struggling flooring specialist Carpetright has fired off its seventh profit warning in just over a year as rising living costs and a stagnant housing market stifles the high street Photograph: Newscast/Alamy

Primark is pressing ahead with expansion in eurozone as the cheap chic formula that has won over British shoppers is also proving to be a hit there - and said it was not deterred by fears of a long recession in the eurozone as new stores in Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands had exceeded the company's expectations. Pictured: A Primark store in Alicante's Gran Via shopping centre Photograph: Primark

Workers on strike outside the gates of the Ford Motor Works, Dagenham, circa 1933. Ford is facing the threat of its first outbreak of industrial action in recent years after the Unite trade union served notice of a strike ballot at the car manufacturer. Unite will ballot 2,500 members at Ford UK, whose sites include the east London engine plant that was the recently the subject of the Britcom film Made in Dagenham Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

AstraZeneca chief executive David Brennan is to step down on 1 June in an abrupt exit that follows rising investor discontent at the company's performance. The drugs giant faces a slump in sales, following the loss of patent cover on antipsychotic Seroquel last month, while heartburn pill Nexium and its top-selling heart drug Crestor lose US protection in 2014 and 2016, respectively Photograph: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sales and profits at GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's largest drug maker, have been hit by austerity measures in Europe and price cuts in some emerging markets, along with unrest in the Middle East. Pictured: A nurse holds a vial of rotavirus vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck in Dodowa, Ghana Photograph: Olivier Asselin/GAVI/Reuters

Sports Direct has upped the share bonus payout for its largest shareholder Mike Ashley by 30% as the billionaire looks to catch up with staff who stand to collect bumper payouts thanks to a turnaround in its performance Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Shell has produced a barnstorming profit performance in the first quarter of the year, making over £2m an hour on the back of soaring crude prices. But its chief executive, Peter Voser, said investors and customers stood to gain as the money helped keep up dividend payments and pay for new schemes to ensure steady petrol supplies Photograph: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images