UK Business News

Alliance Boots enhanced by anti-ageing cream

Britain's biggest chemist says that its own-brand skincare products have performed well as profits rise

Daiwa buys Close Brothers' corporate finance

The £67 million investment signals an unexpected vote of confidence in the return of financial business to London

• Tribunal upholds ruling against Winterflood

• Corporate Britain's refinancing timebomb

Asda boss attacks the nanny state

Andy Bond will attack attempts to "constrain" the consumption of alcohol and unhealthy foods and restrict carrier bag use

Rail investment heads for the fast track

Industry insiders say that reform of the rail transport sector will echo that of the airline industry over the past 15 years

World Business News

Independent agrees standstill with bondholders

Independent News & Media, the troubled newspaper group, has won a grace period over debt that was due today

Ernst & Young lawyer guilty of fraud

Former partner at the firm gave information on forthcoming mergers to a friend, who made nearly $400,000 on stock market

Italy's elite power at full steam to 360km/h

Consortium is opening a private railway network with plans to reduce the time on journey's between Italian cities

Yell’s pain in Spain takes it into the red

The impairment comes as Yell considers attempting a rights issue this autumn to pay down some of its £4.3 billion of debt

Analysis

Think outside the box, jargon is useful

Would it not be dull if we all spoke like the Queen? Isn't evolution actually essential to the English language?

West Brom’s painful reminder

The financial shock at West Bromwich is more a tremor than an earthquake. But we should not underestimate its importance

British consumers: down but not out

My sense is that the Bank of England, given a "glass half-full or glass half-empty" choice, had no incentive to be upbeat

Money  

Homeowners face shock tracker rise

Brokers warn of repayment increases, so what to do if you have a super-low deal mortgage, savings or are looking to move

How to buy a second-hand car

With used-car scams on the rise because of the recession, we explain your rights and the many pitfalls

• Drive down the costs of motoring

• Go-ahead for £2,000 car scrappage incentive

Where carers can find much needed support

We look at the help available for carers, from free health checks to holidays and state benefits

Law  

Video-link courts will bring instant justice

Thousands of suspects will lose the right to appear in court and will be tried in 'virtual courts' under Government plans

Costs will be cut, but justice will suffer

To save the cost of a journey to court the Government may be creating huge and irrevocable costs to our system of justice

• Why the courts are at breaking point

• Law 100: the UK's most powerful lawyers

Mother tagged in child residency dispute

Extraordinary court ruling imposed measure usually faced by criminals after mother twice took daughter abroad unlawfully

• Fathers 'find justice in residence orders'

• Crisis looms as fosterers near retirement

business travel  

Vodafone slashes cost of international phone calls this summer

Mobile network's customers will pay the same as for UK calls in 35 countries

Face recognition trials at UK airports extended

Trials of facial-recognition gates at Stansted and Manchester airports are to be extended to 10 terminals by August this year

Business travellers ditching premium classes

Passengers on international business trips increasingly using premium economy and no-frills carriers, says CAA