Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Npower, RBS, Patisserie Valerie

Nearly one in three British businesses are planning to relocate some of their operations abroad or have already shifted them to cope with a hard Brexit, according to a leading lobby group. The Institute of Directors (IoD) warned that 29% of firms in a survey of 1,200 members believed Brexit posed a significant risk to their operations in the UK and had either moved part of their businesses abroad already or were planning to do so. – Guardian

Npower, one of big six energy firms, is to cut 900 jobs, as the company warned it would make significant financial losses this year. The German-owned supplier blamed the cuts, about 15% of its UK workforce, on the government’s price cap on default tariffs and “intense competition” in sector over fixed deals. Npower said about 900 roles would go over the coming year and that it would consult staff over the next month. – Guardian

MPs are to launch a new inquiry into the heavily criticised business rates system amid warnings that a further 100,000 shops will close this year. Nicky Morgan MP, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, said the inquiry would scrutinise the changes in reliefs and allowances that had already been announced by the Government, the burden on companies and the “behaviours it drives in businesses”. – Telegraph

A Tory MP has said he is "hugely concerned" a government agency could have played a role in the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) scandal-hit turnaround unit after it emerged the bank's top executives had their pay linked to the agency. Documents referenced in court on Thursday showed that senior bankers, including RBS's former chief executive Stephen Hester, had their bonuses pegged to the success of government agency the Asset Protection Agency (APA) in 2010. – Telegraph

The executive chairman and chief executive of Patisserie Holdings did not disclose a possible conflict of interest to investors arising from their ownership of a shop of its collapsed café chain. Luke Johnson, 56, and Paul May, 59, are landlords of the Patisserie Valerie’s Tunbridge Wells store, which is leased to the business for £45,000 a year. They bought the building in 2014, three months before the café opened, through a vehicle called Tunbridge Freehold Ltd, which they jointly own. – The Times

Metro Bank came under new selling pressure yesterday after changing its account of the discovery of a £900 million accounting misstatement that led its share price to crash last week. Shares in the fast-growing challenger bank fell 11 per cent to £10.87 amid speculation that it was scrambling to raise fresh capital and coming under pressure to strengthen its board. Before last week’s bombshell, they were trading at £22 and touched a high of more than £40 less than a year ago. – The Times