Marissa Mayer, the new chief executive of Yahoo, has made her first big bet to jump-start growth at the stalled web portal company with the purchase of New York start-up Tumblr, according to two people familiar with the transaction.

Hats off to Mervyn King. By voicing his doubts about the government's �130bn gamble on the housing market, the outgoing Bank of England governor has restarted a vital debate.

In the letter to the leaders of ten crown dependencies and British overseas territories David Cameron said he backed their right to low tax jurisdictions, but insisted rules needed to be set and enforced fairly.

Marks & Spencer's store staff could see their meagre �100 bonus trimmed or ditched after the retail bellwether posts a further fall in annual profits this week.

The Scots are accustomed to having their views ignored in the British political system. In 18 general elections since the second world war, the Conservatives have had a majority in Scotland only once (1955), yet they have formed the government nine times.

It began as a sideline on a Herefordshire farm little over a decade ago but is now being touted around the world to potential buyers for �100m.

BAE is moving toward naming its new chairman with the UK defence company's most influential stake-holders expected to make a decision by mid June.

FirstGroup is expected to announce that chairman Martin Gilbert is set to step down in an attempt to placate investors as it unveils plans for a �600m rights issue and cuts the dividend.

Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.'s three founding shareholders sent a letter with details of a planned bid for the company at a price of less than 300 pence a share to its independent committee of directors, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nuffield Health this week became the latest British organisation to offer fed-up savers attractive rates on bonds. The charity is inviting people to invest between �1,000 to �250,000 in its bond and get a fixed annual return of 6 per cent for five years.