STERLING plummeted this week – sinking to 28-month lows just above $1.22 and sustaining heavy losses against the euro – as signals from Boris Johnson’s Government fuelled fears of a no-deal Brexit.

Michael Gove, who is in charge of no-deal preparations in the Cabinet Office, said over the weekend that the Government “must operate on the assumption” that the UK would leave the European Union without a deal.

Nearly 250 jobs were lost with the collapse of Fife interior fit-out specialist Havelock International into administration.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed joint administrators of Havelock International, which is based in Kirkcaldy and has specialised in fitting out premises such as shops and offices. The administrators concluded that it was not possible to continue to operate the business while a buyer was sought, and 247 employees, the vast bulk of the workforce, have been made redundant.

Network Rail is pursuing the owner of Ayr Station Hotel over track chaos.

An elusive Malaysian businessman who has owned Ayr’s Station Hotel for the best part of a decade is being pursued by Network Rail for the costs it incurred when the adjoining railway station had to be partially closed last year.

Eng Haut Ung has owned the 133-year-old, 75-bedroom hotel next to Ayr Railway Station since 2010, but stopped operating it as a going concern in 2013. Since then the condition of the building has deteriorated to such a degree that South Ayrshire Council issued a Dangerous Buildings Notice to Mr Ung in March last year before setting up an exclusion zone around the hotel in the summer.

Shares in CYBG tumbled nearly 10 per cent on Tuesday, after the Clydesdale Bank and Virgin Money owner signalled its full-year interest-rate margin would be at the lower end of previous guidance.

The bank also reported a dip in its mortgage book during the third quarter of its financial year, from £60.5 billion at March 31 to £60.4bn at June 30.

The cruise business of Stewart Travel Group revealed plans to expand its workforce amid the booming demand from consumers to explore the world by sea.

Scotland’s Cruise Centre, part of the business acquired from Minoan Group in a deal led by travel veteran Duncan Wilson last year, has launched a recruitment drive for a further 30 staff. The move, which will increase the division’s current workforce by 35 per cent, comes after the business doubled its team in the three previous years as the popularity of cruising holidays has soared.