Big losers
Construction company Carillion collapsed with debts of £1.5 billion. How does that compare with other UK corporate failures?
Overend Gurney & Co, a bank, collapsed in 1866 with £4 million in liabilities (£400 million at today’s prices).
Polly Peck failed after a fraud probe with £100 million in debts (£217 million).
Barings Bank failed in 1995 after rogue trader Nick Leeson ran up £827 million of losses (£1.55 billion).
MG Rover failed in 2005, leaving behind £1.4 billion of debt (£2 billion).
Northern Rock was saved in 2007 after the government provided emergency loans to the tune of £27 billion (£35.7 billion).
Rough areas
A petition called for homeless people not to be removed from the streets of Windsor for the royal wedding in May. Which areas have the most recorded rough sleepers?
| LOCAL AUTHORITY | NUMBER |
| Westminster | 260 |
| Brighton and Hove | 144 |
| Cornwall | 99 |
| Manchester | 78 |
| Luton | 76 |
| Bristol | 74 |
Forest of statistics
Plans to plant a 62,000-hectare forest across the north of England were announced. How do we compare with Europe for trees?
| UK FOREST COVER | |
| Overall | 13% |
| England | 10% |
| Scotland | 18% |
| Wales | 15% |
| Northern Ireland | 8% |
| EUROPE’S MOST DENSELY FORESTED | |
| Finland | 73% |
| Sweden | 68% |
| Spain | 37% |
| Germany | 33% |
| Italy | 32% |
| France | 31% |
Women on top
Which organisations have a ‘reverse’ pay gap — they pay men less than women?
| EMPLOYER | MALE/FEMALE DIFFERENTIAL |
| Yellow Dot Ltd | -80.6% |
| Arnold Clark Finance | -15% |
| Campbells Prime Meat Ltd | -13.1% |
| Hambleton District Council | -12.1% |
| Diageo GB Ltd | -9.8% |
| Commission for Equality and Human Rights |
-8.2% |
| Biffa Environmental Municipal Services |
-5.7% |
| SSE Energy Supply Ltd | – 3.8% |
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