On the domestic front, the Bank of England and Gordon Brown had already conceded that the economy was about to contract when the Office for National Statistics confirmed, that for the first time in 16 years, economic output had fallen by 0.5 per cent in the quarter to September.

Throughout the week, the price of oil continued to slide amid growing concerns that a global recession would cut energy demands. By the end of the week, crude oil had dipped below $65 a barrel. On the currency markets sterling fell below $1.60 to its lowest level in five years.

As the week closed, news in Asia that Sony had halved its full-year profit forecasts and Samsung's has seen a 44 per cent fall in third-quarter profits, prompted a global sell-off.

VP plc, the Harrogate-based equipment rental specialist announced that its subsidiary, Hire Station, has purchased Power Tool Supplies Ltd for £1.1m. The group's chairman, Jerermy Pilkington, said that the newly acquired company, which has been serving the Brighton area since 1983, will provide Hire Station with a high quality addition to its branch network.

Following the discovery that a number of Fenner plc shareholders have been approached by a third party professing to be acting with the group's consent and making representations that are untrue, the Hessle-based company issued a statement reiterating that the results for the year ending August 31 would be at the top end of expectations and that current trading remains satisfactory.

Fenner confirmed that they have passed evidence to the FSA regarding the unauthorised contact with shareholders.

In its latest interim management statement, Drax Group plc, the Selby-based electricity generator confirmed that trading conditions in the commodity markets in which it operates have continued to improve and, as a result, the group now anticipates that its full-year figures will be higher than current market expectations.

Drax also confirmed that it has entered into a joint agreement with Siemens Project Venture to build and operate three large dedicated biomass-fired generation plants in the UK. It is estimated that once all three plants are operational, Drax will be responsible for supplying 15 per cent of the UK's renewable power and up to 10 per cent of total UK electricity.

Sub-prime lender Provident Financial plc reported that it had made good progress during the third quarter to October 21 and, as a result, the company is on track to meet full-year expectations.

The Bradford-based company said that demand for its products remained strong, but in order to maintain the overall credit quality of its book, the group was currently declining 80 per cent of all new applications.