Lloyds Banking Group completed the first stage of its massive capital raising plan. The bank said demand for its $14.9 billion bond exchange was strong. Simon Kennedy from Marketwatch.com said Lloyds got many of its bondholders to exchange their bond holdings for new notes. Wayne Bishop from King & Shaxson joined the discussion.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke to UK business leaders at the Confederation of British Industry's conference Monday. Justin Urquhart Stewart from Seven Investment Management and Stephen Alambritis from British Federation of Small Businesses discuss Brown's comments.

BMW has been chosen as the official automotive partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games. Ian Robertson, board member of BMW Group, spoke to CNBC about the sponsorship.

GE Oil & Gas opened a new global services facility in Scotland and invested 3 million pounds in the site. Mark Elborne, president & CEO of GE UK, spoke to CNBC about the investment.

The UK doesn't have the required skills to make the transition to a low-carbon economy, according to a report from the Aldersgate Group. John Edmonds, former president of the TUC and Aldersgate Group Project chair for the report, has more.

The crackdown on tax evaders continues as the UK's revenues and customs office offers a final opportunity for those with an offshore banking account to come forward and put their affairs in order. David Hartnett from HMRC discusses.

When sterling's value moved sharply up in the late 90s and stayed at high levels for longer than expected, it "had a real impact on the shape of our economy," Richard Lambert, director-general at the CBI told CNBC. "Its impact on the economy is more complicated than it used to be," he added.

The US probably doesn't even know a new EU president has been appointed, Alpesh Patel from Praefinium Group said. "If you want to have the power and leverage of the United States on the world stage, then this was the opportunity at which to do it," he said. He doesn't see Van Rompuy commanding the same authority as the US president.

Sam Smith, chief executive of FinnCap, is the youngest and only female CEO of a city brokerage. FinnCap is a stock broker for AIM and small-cap companies. "Business is definitely better, (but) this year has been a tough one," Smith told CNBC Thursday.

Shares in Plastics Capital rose Thursday after the group reported its pretax profit more than doubled in the first half. Faisal Rahmatallah, executive chairman of Plastics Capital, told CNBC the company specializes in niche plastics products and is benefiting from the weak pound.