The visitation by the International Monetary Fund has passed without any of the shock and awe feared by the Chancellor. Instead, what deputy managing director David Lipton presented was more in the tradition of fine tuning.

As the power supplier announced a 5.6pc rise in annual profits to �1.4bn, Ian Marchant lashed out at critics in Westminster and said that the company suffered because of the �big numbers� in its results.

The US Federal Reserve heralded the beginning of the end for its third round of quantitative easing as Ben Bernanke said it could slow the $85bn-a-month pace of asset purchases �in the next few meetings� if the labour market is strong.

Nationwide has increased its share of the British mortgage market to a record level, helped by government-funded programmes to support housebuyers, such as the Bank of England's Funding for Lending Scheme.

Cable & Wireless Communications, the telecoms group that traces its history back to the early days of the British empire, is to leave the UK after more than 140 years and move its headquarters across the Atlantic.

There were 55 beaches deemed to have a water quality good enough to be given a flag this year, compared to 79 last year. For 2013, beaches had to meet a new �excellent� standard imposed by the EU under the EU Bathing Waters Directive.

The pound slammed into reverse on Wednesday as a sharp fall in high street sales dented hopes Britain is on the road to a steady recovery.

Investments in shale gas drilling could yield an industry worth nearly �4bn a year to the UK economy and create more than 70,000 jobs, according to a new report from the Institute of Directors (IoD), becoming a "new North Sea" energy business in the process ...

A �5bn hole in the public purse has been caused by the failure of HM Revenue and Customs to clamp down effectively on fraud and error, MPs warn on Wednesday.

The new boss charged with turning around Britvic has wasted no time wielding the axe at the drinks maker. Simon Litherland, who took over from predecessor Paul Moody 12 weeks ago, announced plans to shut two factories, a warehouse, ditch some of its ...