COFFEE shops have been snapping up yet more space on Britain's high streets.

CHEAPER diamond prices helped H Samuel and Ernest Jones to deliver positive third-quarter sales, as consumers snapped up more affordable gems, parent company Signet yesterday

INVESTORS in the Aviva UK property fund can now withdraw their money more than nine months after the group imposed a freeze on redemptions.

ACTRESS Honor Blackman took part in a protest yesterday to demand compensation from the UK government for policyholders who lost money in Equitable Life.

IN ITS efforts to spin the break-up of Lloyds and RBS as a boost to competition in retail banking, the UK government has succeeded in bringing the failures of the market int

SIR Stuart Rose, executive chairman of high street bellwether Marks & Spencer, warned yesterday that VAT could be raised next year as the government battled with the count

THE markets are on high alert today over whether the Bank of England will answer calls to extend quantitative easing (QE) by a further £25-50 billion.

MSPs are pressing for a competition inquiry into small business banking in Scotland amid warnings that the restructuring of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group wil

THE European Commission has called for a World Trade Organisation panel to settle a dispute with China over restrictions on exports of various raw materials.

CONFIDENCE is returning to the economy, according to life insurance firm Legal & General, which yesterday reported a slide in sales that was in line with market expectati

TRADE unions were last night preparing for a fresh round of negotiations to secure the future of thousands of Vauxhall car workers' jobs following a dramatic decision by t

TRANSPORT firm FirstGroup suffered a slump in profits in the first trading half after the US recession dented takings at its Greyhound inter-city coach business.

STAGECOACH, the train and bus operator pursuing troubled rival National Express, has warned that trading remains tough, particularly in its rail business.

CITROËN isn't the first to produce a versatile MPV version of a conventional supermini but it is arguably the first to do the job properly. The company's C3 Picasso is

THE door permitting submissions to Brian Pack and his committee members has now clanged shut, allowing them to consider the various thoughts put forward by individuals and org

WILLIAM Grant & Sons, the family-owned distiller and one of Scotland's largest private companies, has reported record profits boosted by sales of non whisky spirits su

THE UK's supply of meat could be affected if a threatened strike by vets who inspect abattoirs and meat processing plants goes ahead.

RESEMBLING more a mud-strewn battlefield than the centrepiece for top quality ploughing, the Scottish Ploughing Championships at the weekend at Farnall Mains, Brechin, had to

WEIR Group, the Glasgow-based engineering giant, yesterday upgraded its profits forecast for the second time this year, with full-year earnings now expected to come in at almo

LEGO, maker of the iconic toy brick, yesterday launched a legal bid to win back its trademark.