The business year in pictures

A man walks past the Bank of England in the City of London. Britain officially entered recession for the first time since 1991, after the economy shrank at the fastest pace for nearly 30 years in the fourth quarter: Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Christmas decorations outside a Marks & Spencer shop on Oxford Street. Marks & Spencer kicked off the retail reporting season as it unveiled dire Christmas trading, the closure of 27 stores and confirmed more than 1,200 staff were to be axed in a bid to cut costs: Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/guardian.co.uk

People walk past a Tesco express store in central London. Tesco reported its weakest Christmas sales since the last slump in the early 1990s, but Sainsbury's reported Christmas sales above City expectations Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/guardian.co.uk

Labourers work on scaffoldings at a construction site in Changzhi, Shanxi province. China overtook Germany to become the world's third largest economy after revising its figures for output growth. The Chinese economy has grown tenfold in three decades and grew 13% rather than 12% in 2007, Beijing said Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Sales of Agas, the cast-iron cookers that have warmed country kitchens for generations, have been dented by the recession. The company has warned that trading deteriorated throughout the last six months of 2008, a time when consumers reined in their spending on big-ticket items and home improvements Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Prime Minister Gordon Brown talks during a session at the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum 2009 got under way with politicians turning up in force to try to come up with urgent solutions to the global recession Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/guardian.co.uk

Shell posted its biggest drop in quarterly profits in a decade, yet still made the biggest UK annual profit in history Photograph: Graham Turner/guardian.co.uk

A branch of Karen Millen owned by Baugur. Baugur group went into administration. The Icelandic investor, which transformed itself from a family-owned Reykjavik discount store into a major retail group, filed for protection after its main backer, the nationalised Icelandic bank Landsbanki, pulled the plug Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Bernard L Madoff leaves US Federal Court after a hearing regarding his bail in January 2009 in New York. A list of thousands who invested with Bernard Madoff was released. Photograph: Timothy A Clary/guardian.co.uk

Tom McKillop the former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland speaks to the Treasury Select Committee. The Treasury select committee received apologies for the banking crisis from Lord Stevenson, Sir Fred Goodwin, Sir Tom McKillop and Andy Hornby Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Media gather at the Edinburgh home of the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin in Scotland. An embarrassing public row broke out between City minister Lord Myners and Sir Fred Goodwin over the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive's refusal to give up his £693,000 a year pension. Goodwin insisted ministers had known of his £16m pension pot for months and that he was going to hold on to it. RBS suffered the biggest loss in British corporate history Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/guardian.co.uk

The Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.5% to a record low and began the process of pumping tens of billions of pounds of newly created money into Britain's troubled economy Photograph: Lewis Whyld/guardian.co.uk

People queue outside a Job Centre in Bristol. Unemployment topped 2 million on the widest measure of joblessness, while the claimant count suffered its biggest jump on record. The Office for National Statistics confirmed unemployment rose to almost 2.03 million in the three months to January – the highest level in 12 years and a rise of 165,000 from the previous quarter Photograph: Matt Cardy/guardian.co.uk

Passengers use a state-of-the-art bridge at Gatwick Airport. The Competition Commission signalled the biggest shakeup in airport ownership in more than two decades tas it ordered BAA to sell three airports including Stansted and Gatwick Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Prudential will become the first FTSE 100 company to be run by a black chief executive, after it announced that current CEO Mark Tucker is standing down to be replaced by Tidjane Thiam Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Job hunters check out adverts on a wall in Shenzhen, China. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned there would be a surge in global unemployment and called on governments to take 'quick and decisive action' to head off a full-blown social crisis Photograph: Dan Chung/guardian.co.uk

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, claimed he played a key role in ending 'financial madness' at the G20 summit in London, which saw violent scenes in the City Photograph: Eric Feferberg/guardian.co.uk

A Royal Bank of Scotland branch in central London. Royal Bank of Scotland angered unions and politicians with plans to cut up to 4,500 staff in Britain as part of a worldwide reduction of 9,000 posts. The bank, which is 70% owned by the taxpayer, said the cuts were part of a policy to save about £2.5bn over the next three years Photograph: Shaun Curry/guardian.co.uk

Alistair Darling delivered his budget and attempted to lay down battle lines for next year's general election with a £7bn squeeze on the rich followed by a brutal freeze on public spending. Admitting that the worst year for economic growth since 1945 would create a £175bn hole in the public finances this year, the chancellor broke Labour's 2005 manifesto pledge not to raise income tax by lifting the top rate for those earning more than £150,000 to 50% from next April Photograph: Oli Scarff/guardian.co.uk

A pedestrian walks past a poster of a Chevrolet vehicle in Santiago. Chrysler declared itself bankrupt after a handful of creditors withstood pressure from the Obama administration to forgive billions of dollars in debt, casting a cloud of uncertainty over tens of thousands of jobs at factories, suppliers and dealers Photograph: Ivan Alvarado/guardian.co.uk

Maitenance work on Vestas wind turbines in Germany. Vestas, the world's biggest wind energy group, said that it would close its Isle of Wight facility - UK's only wind turbine manufacturing plant Photograph: guardian.co.uk

A toy Porsche Carrera, left, and a toy Volkswagen Beetle convertible face one another. German carmakers Volkswagen and Porsche announced their plan to merge, bringing to a sudden and dramatic end a lengthy takeover attempt by the sports car manufacturer of its larger rival Photograph: Sean Gallup/guardian.co.uk

Lloyds Banking Group stunned the City when it warned that corporate bad debts are expected to soar by 50% this year, and that it has yet to finalise its participation in the government's crucial insurance scheme for toxic assets Photograph: Frantzesco Kangaris/guardian.co.uk

Sizewell A, left, and Sizewell B nuclear power stations, in Suffolk. British Gas owner Centrica said it would build a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK as part of a deal with French energy firm EDF Photograph: Graham Turner/guardian.co.uk

Richard Branson, left, and Ross Brawn at the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix. The number of British millionaires has fallen from 489,000, at the peak of the boom in 2007, to 242,000 Photograph: Luca Bruno/guardian.co.uk

Thousands of Honda workers returned to the production line in Swindon, four months after the factory closed in response to the ailing car market Photograph: Matt Cardy/guardian.co.uk

Europe's largest budget carrier, Ryanair, reported its first loss in 20 years, due largely to a writedown of its stake in struggling Aer Lingus and charges related to disposals from its rapidly growing fleet. And Michael O'Leary confirmed plans to charge for toilets on the airline within two years Photograph: guardian.co.uk

A sale of Galliard Apartments in Canary Wharf. The Halifax announced the biggest monthly jump in house prices in more than six years as fresh evidence emerged of the impact of record low interest rates on the property market Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Bob Diamond, chairman of Barclays' fund management arm BGI, was lined up for a payout of £22m following the sale of the business to BlackRock for 3.5bn Photograph: Carl De Souza/guardian.co.uk

It was revealed that a pay deal for Stephen Hester, the Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, could reach £15m, provoking anger from unions, shareholders and politicians as the state-controlled bank reignited the public furore over boardroom pay Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/guardian.co.uk

Bernard Madoff received a maximum 150-year sentence for masterminding a $65bn (£38bn) fraud that wrecked the lives of thousands of investors. Madoff's wife Ruth and the couple's sons Andrew and Mark are now set to face an investigation by US federal prosecutors Photograph: Christine Cornell/guardian.co.uk

The high street chain, Coffee Republic, collapsed into administration, blaming the downturn in consumer spending for its failure to move into profit Photograph: Dan Kitwood/guardian.co.uk

Commuters at Paddington Station, London. Network Rail will electrify nearly 300 miles of Britain's busiest railway track over the next decade after the government gave its approval to a £1.1bn programme. The plans will transform the Great Western mainline, which runs from London to Oxford, Newbury and Cardiff, via Reading Photograph: guardian.co.uk

A Lloyds TSB branch in Leeds. Higher-than-expected bad debts of £13.4bn drove Lloyds Banking Group to a £4bn loss in the first half of the year as the rescue takeover of HBOS continued to dent the black horse bank Photograph: John Giles/guardian.co.uk

A man approaches a Mercedes-Benz dealership for German car manufacturer Daimler in Frankfurt. Germany and France have emerged from recession earlier than expected, raising hopes that the rest of Europe could soon be out of the woods. Germany, Europe's largest economy, recorded a surprise rise of 0.3% in gross domestic product in the second quarter, ending its worst recession since the second world war Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach /guardian.co.uk

Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, warned bankers that he would support a new wave of taxes on the City to prevent excessive profiteering if they continue to take excessive risks. In a searing critique of the industry, Turner described much of the City's activities as 'socially useless' and questioned whether it has grown too large Photograph: Alastair Grant/guardian.co.uk

Vintage Spider Man and X-Men Marvel comic books at St Mark's Comics in New York City. The Walt Disney empire is to buy the superhero stable Marvel Entertainment for $4bn (£2.5bn) in a star-studded Hollywood deal that unites family names such as Mickey Mouse with lucrative characters including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men Photograph: Mario Tama/guardian.co.uk

Offshore oil rigs near Santa Barbara, California. BP reopened the debate on when the 'peak oil' supply will be reached by announcing a big new discovery in the Gulf of Mexico which some believe could be as large as the Forties, the biggest field ever found in the North Sea Photograph: David McNew/guardian.co.uk

The logo for the Orange mobile phone network provider on a shop. Orange and T-Mobile announced that they are merging their UK operations to create the country's largest mobile phone operator, with 28.4 million customers or 37% of the market, leapfrogging rivals O2 and Vodafone Photograph: Toby Melville/guardian.co.uk

Paternoster Square from the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. The FTSE 100 index of Britain's leading shares closed above the key 5000 level for the first time since 26 September 2008, buoyed by hopes the recession may be over and by the return of multibillion-pound mergers Photograph: Alessia Pierdomenico/guardian.co.uk

A woman walks by a recruitment agency in Croydon. Unemployment jumped to its highest level since mid-1995, pushing the jobless rate in Britain up to nearly 8%, official data showed Photograph: Sang Tan/guardian.co.uk

World Bank President Robert Zoellick sprinkles water on a camera at the Finance Minister Summit in July. World Bank president, Robert Zoellick, warned ahead that the United States must brace itself for the dollar to be usurped as the world's reserve currency as American dominance wanes in the wake of the financial crisis Photograph: Martin Bernetti/guardian.co.uk

Disgraced former Northern Rock boss, Adam Applegarth, who was heavily blamed for excessive lending before the financial crisis, landed a job with private equity firm Apollo Management Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Royal Mail postal workers picket the entrance to the Glasgow mail centre in Springburn. Royal Mail lost a crucial contract with its second largest customer, the online retailer Amazon, with Argos and eBay looking possibly to follow, and as a wave of strikes threaten parcel deliveries in the busy pre-Christmas sales period Photograph: Andrew Milligan/guardian.co.uk

Canary Wharf in London at dawn. Official figures showed a 0.4% drop in GDP, shocking City economists who had almost unanimously expected an end to recession Photograph: Tim Ireland/guardian.co.uk

November: A doorman opens a door at the Bank of England. The Bank of England expanded its programme of quantitative easing by £25bn over the next three months, to £200bn, in an attempt to boost Britain's recession-hit economy. Interest rates were once again left unchanged Photograph: Bloomberg/guardian.co.uk

British Airways planes at Heathrow Airport. British Airways alarmed passengers a decade ago by removing the Union Jack from its tailfins. But they now have the prospect of the Spanish flag flying alongside the national airline after BA agreed a £4.4bn merger with rival Iberia Photograph: Dan Kitwood/guardian.co.uk

Cadbury's creme eggs move down the production line at the Cadbury's factory in Birmingham. Kraft Foods went hostile in its pursuit of Cadbury, launching a formal takeover offer worth £9.8bn that was swiftly rejected as 'derisory' by the British company's board Photograph: Simon Dawson/guardian.co.uk

Large gold bars on display in cabinets at the Caibai gold store in Bejing. Gold hit a fresh all-time high, as the weakening US dollar prompted investors to increase their bullion holdings Photograph: Dan Chung/guardian.co.uk

Marc Bolland, the chief executive of supermarket chain Wm Morrison, was appointed as the next chief executive of Marks & Spencer Photograph: guardian.co.uk

The Burj Dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper, dominates the skyline in the Business Bay district in Dubai. The Dubai government refused to guarantee the huge debts built up by its conglomerate Dubai World, dashing investor hopes that the latest episode in the global financial crisis might be swiftly resolved Photograph: Bloomberg/guardian.co.uk

A man walks out of the main London branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in the city of London. The row over bankers' bonuses escalated with news that the Treasury could be dictating payouts at Royal Bank of Scotland for several years after seizing the power to shape the partially nationalised bank's 2009 bonus pool. But the bank said the move would put it at a 'competitive disadvantage'. A succession of ministers then accused the City of lining its pockets by planning to pay more than 5,000 executives bonuses worth over £1m Photograph: Alastair Grant/guardian.co.uk

British Airways was forced to seek help from the arbitration service Acas to settle the dispute with unions over job losses and a pay freeze. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic announced cuts to 600 jobs and a tenth of its services Photograph: Adrian Dennis/guardian.co.uk

Entrance to Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai: $6,800 a night (£3,392)
The Royal Suite on the 25th floor positively screams luxury with its marble and gold staircase, leopard print tufted carpets and private cinema. The master bedroom has a rotating four-poster canopy bed. And if you really want to splash out, you can hire a helicopter – at extra cost. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Pre-budget report 2009 Photograph: PA Wire/PA Photograph: PA Wire/guardian.co.uk

1989: A Saab 900i 16v 4 door saloon Photograph: Bob Masters Classic Car Images //guardian.co.uk