The UK economy shrank by less than previously thought in the second quarter – it fell by 0.7 per cent rather than the initial estimate of 0.8 per cent.

A week of two halves saw year-on-year sales at department store group John Lewis dip two per cent in the week to August 22.

A European consortium that includes satellite operator SES Astra, Canal+, France Television, TF1 and German research body Institut für Rundfunktechnik, has announced the launch of a pan-European initiative to harmonise the delivery of broadcast and broadband content.

Shopping channel Price-Drop TV rejoins Freeview’s listings today after signing a long-term deal with Arqiva.

Fujitsu’s services arm has announced it is to cut up to 1,200 UK jobs, around 10 per cent of its workforce in this country, because of the global downturn.

The average family was £9 a week better off in July than in the same month a year ago, according to supermarket group Asda.

Shopping channel Pitch TV has stopped broadcasting on digital satellite following the collapse of parent company the Pitchwell Group.

Bosses are calling on the Government to use £125 million of its £500m recruitment subsidy fund to finance 50,000 new apprenticeships.

US sports broadcaster ESPN has signed up former star footballer and England manager Kevin Keegan as the lead analyst for its UK Premier League coverage for the 2009/10 season.

Business confidence is positive for the first time in two years, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England Wales (ICAEW).

Those close to Chancellor Alistair Darling have confirmed that VAT will return to 17.5 per cent on January 1.

One of the better weeks of the year is how John Lewis operational development director Andrew Murphy described business at the department store group during the seven days to August 15.

Changes to the Government’s trade credit insurance top-up scheme were announced today by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

The British Retail Consortium’s Global Standard for Consumer Products is a step closer to becoming the worldwide benchmark following an agreement between the BRC and North America’s leading retailers’ association.

Supermarket group Sainsbury’s has launched is first-ever home catalogue to complement its new non-food online offer.

Sony has unveiled a slimmer version of its PlayStation3 video game console.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and two other members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) wanted to boost the quantitative easing programme by £75 billion but were outvoted by the six remaining members who preferred a more cautious £50bn approach.

Sony has set up its own scrappage scheme offering customers up to £150 off the price of a new TV.

A Freeview set-top box claimed to be the first to meet the Government’s latest core receiver requirements has been unveiled by TVonics.

The UK inflation rate, as judged by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), remained at 1.8 per cent in July.

Computer game addicts are a lot older than expected, according to new US research.

The wettest July on record and the end of clearance sales resulted in London stores turning out their second lowest growth rate of the year.

Electrolux has issued a safety notice for owners of some electric built-in single ovens under the Electrolux, Zanussi-Electrolux, Moffat and Tricity Bendix brands.

A car-industry-style scrappage scheme for white goods and the removal of VAT from energy-efficient appliances is being urged by retail chiefs.

On Monday, supermarket giant Tesco is to double the points awarded in its Clubcard customer loyalty scheme, giving shoppers two points for every £1 they spend in-store or online.

Unscrupulous businesses could dodge the Workplace Parking Levy leaving honest firms out of pocket, warns the Forum for Private Business (FPB).

Department store group John Lewis reported a 5.3 per cent year-on-year drop in sales for the week to August 8.

The world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart revealed a slight dip in second-quarter profits and sales.

Domestic & General's Total Excellence and Quality (TEQ) service award for 2009 has been won by BSH Customer Service.

Mobile phone maker Nokia and software giant Microsoft have joined forces to offer business software on smartphones.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) warned satellite broadcaster Sky not to repeat a TV commercial promoting a £150 price cut to £49 on its Sky+HD boxes, plus free installation.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has admitted that the UK recession appears to be deeper than the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) thought likely in May.

De Dietrich Kitchen Appliances has signed an exclusive distribution agreement for the Republic of Ireland with one of the country’s largest electrical distributors Dimpco.

Wales takes the first step to digital switchover at midnight when the Kilvey Hill transmitter group will switch off analogue BBC Two and replace it with the BBC’s full range of digital channels.

BBC commercial arm BBC Worldwide has won its case against Woolworths’s administrators Deloitte over the licensing agreement it had with 2Entertain, its joint venture with Woolworths.

The value of UK retail sales was 3.6 per cent higher in July than in the same month a year ago, and up 1.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

ITV is to launch a high-definition simulcast of ITV1 on Freeview in time for next year’s football World Cup.

The future of Gaggia UK, the Halifax-based British distributor of the iconic Italian coffee machines, is in doubt following reports that it is on the brink of administration.

More than five thousand companies went into liquidation in England and Wales between April and June, according to figures released today by the Government's Insolvency Service.

Department store group John Lewis reported a 5.6 per cent rise in sales in the week to August 1.

Britons would rather cut down on holidays and eating out than give up their broadband, mobile phone and pay-TV services, according to a report from regulator Ofcom.

The Bank of England is to pour another £50 billion into its quantitative easing programme.

The Chancellor should raise the ceiling on quantitative easing to £180 billion, a leading business organisation has urged.

The final stage of digital TV switchover in west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will be completed by the middle of this afternoon.

Not only have a third of Europeans never surfed the internet, but one in four has never used a PC.

Shop price inflation slowed in July to 0.5 per cent, against 0.7 per cent in June.

Top Up TV has added sports broadcaster ESPN to its listings.

The Competition Commission (CC) has formally recommended that a grocery ombudsman be set up to investigate complaints about the UK’s supermarkets - a move which has been attacked by retail chiefs.

Panasonic has reported a first-quarter operating loss of Yen 20.2 billion (£125.7 million), down from an operating profit of Yen 109.6bn for the same three months a year ago.

Supermarket chain Waitrose is to sell homewares from its sister company department store group John Lewis on its website from tomorrow.

The new ESPN UK sports channel starts broadcasting today but ESPN America will also stay on air as a standalone channel.

A leading business organisation is calling on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to increase quantitative easing beyond the £125 billion already agreed with the Treasury.