HSBC Takes Hits as Brexit Britain's Consumer Casualty List Grows
- Europe’s largest bank was major lender to chef Jamie Oliver
- Bank warned of problem U.K. clients in first-quarter results
HSBC Holdings Plc offices in Canary Wharf, London.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The past months have been brutal for the U.K.’s retail and consumer industries, and one bank that’s felt its fair share of the pain is HSBC Holdings Plc, which has found itself on the wrong side of several of the highest-profile failures.
Last week, TV celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s casual-dining chain was placed into protection from creditors. That left Europe’s largest bank sitting on about 30 million pounds ($38 million) of potential losses, according to a person familiar with the situation. Some 22 restaurants were shut, with the likely loss of more than 1,000 jobs.