UK Business News

Factory prices rise at fastest rate in a year

Producer inflation hits 3.5% in December but economic pressure may stop companies from raising prices

RBS raises £85m in asset management sale

State-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland continues disposals progamme by selling half asset management arm to Aberdeen

• RBS board keeps resignation threat over bonuses alive

• Taxpayers insure RBS’s foreign toxic assets

M&B enjoys festive cheer and allays debt fears

Pub and restaurant group beset by rebel shareholders insists financial position is strong and reports sales growth

• New intrigue at Mitchells & Butlers

• M&B battle hots up as Lewis fights back

Kraft mulls fresh sweetener for Cadbury

Kraft, the American food giant, ponders another boost to the cash part of its £10.4 billion cash-and-share offer for Cadbury

World Business News

McKinsey consultant pleads guilty to fraud

Ex-director says hedge fund manager accused of running insider trading ring paid him $1.75m for tips on clients

E-mails reveal Fed told AIG to keep quiet

US Government's rescue of insurer in 2008 plunged into fresh controversy with suggestion of cover-up on payments to banks

• AIG executives threaten to quit in pay row

• The good, the bad and the rollercoaster Noughties

Japanese engineers ‘go slow’ over Dubai Metro

The mass-transit system builders are to begin a 'work slowdown' until they are paid hundreds of millions of dollars

Monsanto hopes seeds will make grass greener

Maker of Roundup weedkiller is shifting its focus away from herbicides to its more profitable biotech seeds business

Analysis

Housebuilders aren’t home and dry

Although the supply of credit for home purchases has been steadily increasing, it remains a big problem for the builders

• We will get fooled again by loyalty cards

• Is Nest all that it is cracked up to be?

Bonus tax puts kibosh on business fund

New levy hardens resolve of investment banks not to contribute to the Government's National Investment Corporation

Hays payout takes chill out of public sector cuts

The mid-cap company is not only the biggest recruitment agency but also the UK's biggest supplier of supply teachers

Law  

Lone judge prepares for historic trial

Lawyers for the ‘Heathrow four’, accused of being part of a gang that stole £1.75m, will seek to go before the Supreme Court

Credit-crunch saturation slows US class actions

Investors filed 169 class actions in 2009, down from 223 the year before and 14 per cent below the 10 year average of 197

Music pirate site founder 'had $300,000 in bank'

Alan Ellis denies conspiracy to defraud the music industry after running lucrative members-only music download site

Money  

Prices of new cars will be open to offers

Intense competition for buyers is expected as the full effects of the recession hit manufacturers

• Car sales fall to lowest level since 1995

• Car sales accelerate as scrap scheme nears end

Recession forces warring couples to live together

One in four cohabiting couples that split up cannot afford to go their separate ways, research suggests

• Downturn encourages Britons to delay divorce

• Separate your finances from your ex-partner

Banks dominate best-buy tables as Building Societies raise rates

Alliance & Leicester crowned most competitive lender, as seperate figures show mutuals are increasing SVRs

business travel  

Profile: Telecoms boss Ian Carr

The MD of Team Simoco explains why he always packs his pyjamas and discusses the company's Beijing sickbed

Stop moaning about travel disruption, it's Christmas

Business travellers have faced trying times in the past two weeks but many of the problems are beyond the control of the airlines and rail companies

How business travellers take their holidays

With Christmas upon us, we look at how frequent business travellers approach leisure travel