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.

Asian stocks rose to the highest in five years led by Japanese equities, after the Bank of Japan maintained its easing plan and before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's testimony on the economy.

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.

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.

The taxman had expected to save �8bn by 2015 from reducing errors and fraud in the administration of tax credits, but is expected to miss its target by �5bn.

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.

The Institute of Directors claimed the fledgling industry could create 74,000 jobs, more than double its previous estimate of the industry's potential.

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 ...

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.