Oh, oh, UK, what will bring the year 2009 for you?

What will bring the year 2009 for the U.K.? With a sinking properties market, rising unemployment, heavy suffering retail sector and a British pound going to par with the Euro, it looks like the U.K. will be one of the first visible recession victims in Europe.

UK retailer Adams on the brink of bankruptcy

LONDON (AP) -- British children's clothing retailer Adams Childrenswear Ltd. is on the brink of a form of bankruptcy protection, a spokeswoman for the 75-year-old company said Monday, which would make make Adams the latest well-known British retailer to fall victim to the economic downturn.
The administrators will then try to salvage as much of the company as possible for the benefit of creditors. That can involve trying to keep the business as a going concern or breaking it up and selling it off.
"We don't know whether the stores will close or some stores might be sold," said Gisborne. "The director of the company is in a meeting right now discussing details."
Adams -- which employs around 2,000 people, has 260 stores in Britain and over 100 international outlets in the Middle East and Europe -- is owned by Northern Ireland businessman John Shannon, who bought it out of administration less than two years ago.

Pound hits record low versus euro

LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling hit a record low against the euro and a basket of currencies on Monday, stung by an ongoing view that the weak UK economy will require more interest rate cuts.
Further aggressive policy easing would keep British borrowing costs well below those in the euro zone.
The euro climbed as high as 97.98 pence in extremely thin trade, edging closer to parity after figures showed that UK home prices continued to fall in December, taking them nearly 10 percent lower since the start of the credit crunch in August 2007.
"People have been selling sterling on the back of bad news much more than other currencies, and recently, that's been exacerbated by poor liquidity," said Adarsh Sinha, currency strategist at Barclays Capital in London.
Market participants said trading volumes were far lower than usual, with some saying that liquidity was half of what it usually is, which was aggravating year-end trade. In such conditions, many said that it was just a matter of time before the euro reaches parity with sterling.