Hitchcock

Silver State joins US banking casualties

The bank has become the eleventh in the US to fail after losses from house loans and land forced regulators to shut it down

US government seizes control of mortgage giants

Executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been replaced as the Bush administration makes federal takeover

Dream job turned to dust

Last September estate agent Simon Scott-Nelson celebrated after he was headhunted by Knight Frank - now he's redundant

Estate agent massacre

The housing crisis has hit estate agents; 150 are closing each month

Macfarlane sets sights on faster growth

Chief of packaging company admits ‘crazy prices’ are impediment

Unwrapping a new future for Macfarlane Group

Troubleshooter Peter Atkinson has turned around the fortunes of the once struggling packaging company

Volvo chief resigns, replacement named

Ford is parachuting in its chief operating officer of European operations, Stephen Odell, to its ailing Swedish division

Factory riots put Tata's Nano in jeopardy

The future of the world's cheapest car remains in doubt as protestors besiege the partly built factory in West Bengal

Southern Cross boss goes after eight months

Chief executive will leave before the end of the year 'by mutual consent' and without a payoff, according to the company

Southern Cross chief exits after less than a year

Troubled care homes operator sells more properties, reducing debt by a total of £52m, as BIll Colvin agrees to leave

Ghana bucks stock market trend

The country is at the top of the world's stock-return league table as it benefits from rise in commodity prices for the year so far

Hutton coaxes industry back to health

The business secretary, will have more modest intentions when he unveils the government’s new manufacturing strategy

Wetherspoon pubs bear the brunt of rising costs

Profits fall nearly 13% as increased food prices take the shine off rising food sales as bar takings decline

Premier Inn: a case for violins or just fiddles?

Claims that cost-conscious executives are trading down from grand establishments and staying at budget hotels seem improbable

MyHeritage tracks down £8m capital injection

The second-round funding was led by Index Ventures, which counts internet-TV service Joost among its investments

Television viewing goes mobile with BBC and Nokia

All BBC programmes transmitted in the past seven days will be available to download to the new Nokia N96 multimedia handset

'Help families to cut their bills or else'

Ministers are holding the threat of a windfall tax over energy companies to try to force new moves to cut household bills

There's gold in Japan's landfills

The country's high-tech rubbish dumps have become a natural resource for precious metals including gold, silver and indium

Tony Woodley: Union merger made sense

Unite, Britain's biggest union, is an amalgamation of Amicus and the T&G but people complain that the cultures are very different

Southern Cross boss goes after eight months

Chief executive will leave before the end of the year 'by mutual consent' and without a payoff, according to the company

Marks & Spencer conducts staff surveillance

The retailer's staff live in a culture of fear, says whistleblower who was dismissed for leaking details of redundancy terms

Who will step into Sir Stuart Rose's shoes?

The executive chairman of M&S will step down in three years and the battle to replace him is already gripping the high street

There's gold in Japan's landfills

The country's high-tech rubbish dumps have become a natural resource for precious metals including gold, silver and indium

Failure to get best IT students criticised

Scotland’s reliance on offshore skills is a "recipe for disaster"

Television viewing goes mobile with BBC and Nokia

All BBC programmes transmitted in the past seven days will be available to download to the new Nokia N96 multimedia handset

Nokia says market share is shrinking

The world’s biggest mobile phone maker said it was being undercut by rivals trying to gain a share in a weak global market

Strike at Boeing will cost $100m a day

The dispute is said to have stirred strong feelings in Washington State, where Boeing's commercial aircraft division is based

Ferrovial sells Belfast City Airport

The Spanish company is expected to sell some of its other assets next year after a review by the Competition Commission

British Energy: Scotland short of power

Nuclear firm predicts Scotland will be energy importer by 2025 if it does not build three new, low-carbon power plants

EDF close to victory on British Energy

The French energy group has improved the terms of a bid that was rejected at the end of July by two large shareholders