LONDON�The storm brewing over Apple Inc.'s tax practices in the U.S. has already rained down hard in the U.K., where multinationals including Starbucks Corp.

Falling clothes sales at Marks & Spencer have dragged down the retail giant's annual profits to an eight-year low, as it said the executive behind the �Your M&S� branding is to step down.

Britain will be advised to sell off the state's holdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a move that will embolden George Osborne as he attempts to justify his economic strategy.

The annual rate of inflation eased to 2.4 per cent last month, thanks to falls in petrol prices and air fares, the Office for National Statistics reported yesterday.

Fiat Industrial aims to move its tax residency to the UK from Italy after a merger with US business CNH to take advantage of a lighter fiscal regime, according to a regulatory filing.

Paragon Group continued to prosper by snapping up unwanted loan portfolios from big banks and the boom in buy-to-let loans as the specialist lender reported a rise in half-year pre-tax profits.

Homeserve's shares jumped more than 10 per cent as the company revealed a smaller than anticipated �6m provision for legal costs and fines it is expected to incur for mis-selling home repairs insurance.

Shares in Capita pushed through the �10-mark for the first time in the FTSE 100 outsourcing group's history after it won a decade-long contract worth �1.2bn to provide call centre and online customer services for O2.

The car dealership group - which was established in 2006 with the aim of consolidating the fragmented automotive retail sector - has agreed to pay Co-operative Group Motors �31m cash for Albert Farnell Ltd, a 65-year-old Yorkshire-based business mainly ...

John Menzies has chalked up another major contract renewal in its traditional newspaper and magazine distribution business. John Menzies has chalked up another major contract renewal in its traditional newspaper and magazine distribution business.