Mothercare is crawling towards a recovery as chief executive Simon Calver insisted the UK company was on target to break even within two years.

A day after the International Monetary Fund urged the government to do more to spur growth, Britain's official statisticians have reminded economists of just how far the UK economy remains from full health.

Financial woes have prompted Flybe to cut almost all of its flights from London in a significant blow for the capital's air links to Scotland, the Channel Islands and the West Country.

There was no relief for ARM Holdings today after analysts at Exane BNP provided sceptics with plenty of ammunition for their bear case against the microchip designer.

The annual report from Britain's biggest retailer revealed that Richard Brasher, the former head of Tesco in the UK, was paid �1.3m to leave and Tim Mason, who led the company's US arm Fresh & Easy, collected �1.7m in �liquidated damages�.