Retail

It really is grim up North. Scottish retailers suffered their worst February in more than a decade, reveal figures out today. In contrast, business is booming in London. Overseas visitors are flocking to the capital to take advantage of Sterling's weakness. Unfortunately, few of them made it north of the M25.

Like-for-like sales in Scotland fell 1% from February last year, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. So, what went wrong in Scotland, when things are going so well in London? Well, chiefly the stuff that often goes wrong in Scotland. Namely, dreadful weather and poor consumer confidence.

If you're a migrant you're more likely to be charged more for your car insurance - if you choose Admiral.

That's the conclusion of a Which? survey that's rapped the insurance player for piling on premiums - almost a 20% hike in some cases - for drivers who haven't lived in the UK since birth.

Grocer J Sainsbury's is paying bonuses to top brass early to avoid the 50% tax rate. It will mean around 1,200 of its higher earners will be substantially better off. Including boss Justin King (pictured) who earnt more than £5m in 2008.

Sainsbury's denies the move is a tax dodge. Rather, it says the move is designed to cut the time staff have to wait before they get their clutches on the extra cash.

Department store Liberty confirmed today that talks have begun regarding a takeover from "suitors."

The announcement comes following much speculation and eight months on from the start of a strategic review of the company when it was put on sale by its majority (68%) shareholder, property firm MWB Group Holdings.

John Lewis staff are celebrating soaring sales with a £151m bonus. Even after this cash is divided between 70,000 staff, it's still a sizeable sum – about 15% of each employee's salary.

The staff pay-out is estimated to be worth around eight weeks' wages for most staff. John Lewis full year profits hit £307m, almost 10% ahead of sales in the previous year.

Consumers will get tougher protection on mortgages, pensions and investment products in the future, according to FSA boss Hector Sants.

Sants is leaving his job soon. But he clearly wants to leave the British public better protected against product mis-selling - so some legacy-building is going on.

Even a recession cannot dull the national appetite for beer and fun, as pub chain JD Wetherspoon proved today. The firm announced record first half profits of £36.2m from its estate of more than 700 pubs, up more than 40% on the previous year.

Unveiling its results, Wetherspoon criticised government attempts to reduce drunken behaviour. "The crackdown on pubs may actually exacerbate the problems of binge drinking," said the firm. "It has resulted in more drinking, especially by young people, in the unsupervised environments of parties, streets and parks."

They were at the forefront of musical innovation for decades. The band that pioneered psychedelic music in the 1960s. They introduced us to rock music in the 1970s. They redefined album cover art.

But the era of on-line music is presenting challenges for Pink Floyd, as for many in the industry. The band has taken EMI, its record label since 1967, to court in a dispute over the calculation of royalties for sales over the internet.

Retail sales shot up again during the month of February according to latest figures from the trade group British Retail Consortium (BRC).

UK retail sales values were up 2.2% on a like-for-like basis last month compared to February 2009, when sales had dropped 1.8%. On a total basis, sales rose 4.5% against only 0.1% growth during the same period last year.

Controlling shareholder John Hargreaves of Matalan is to pay himself a £250m dividend. Sixty-six year old Hargreaves regularly receives generous dividends from his company – but a £250m pay-out certainly errs on the side of generous.

Hargreaves attempted to sell his budget 200-store homeware chain earlier this year. However Hargreaves, who took the company private in 2006, and several investors couldn't agree to a sticker price.

Brick by brick, Lego has become the UK's third biggest toy-maker. Last year Lego built up its UK market share to 4.6%. Lego also managed to build up its global market share too to 4.8%.

It's an especially impressive achievement in a very tough sales market. Just look at the figures globally: revenues soared to nearly £1.4bn from £1.01bn the previous year.

Primark may be loved by canny discount-hunters. But flogging rows of hoodies and cargo shorts made in Bangladesh's teeming sweatshops have not endeared it to ethical shoppers.

That's why, perhaps, M&S' Libby Annat has been persuaded to sign up as Primark's new ethical trade manager. Ms Annat will be a busy lady. In 2005, Primark scored just 3.5 out of 20 on a range of ethical criteria.

The Welsh are most likely to tip in restaurants, while the English are least likely. Despite their dour reputation, Scots are most likely to tip all the time. Those shy Northern Irish are most reticent in asking who gets the tip.

Just some of the statistics from a government campaign launched to promote better transparency in tipping. Nearly four in five consumers (79%) tend to tip, according to figures from the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation (DBIS). But only a fifth of them ask what happens to their tip (21%), something the government is campaigning to change.

Ethical fashion house Ascension has started paying long-overdue bills to other ethical and Fairtrade suppliers on the promise of advanced cash from its buyer, entrepreneur Luke Heron.

The firm and its parent Adili, is to be sold for £1 after shutting its warehouses to new deliveries and refusing to pay monies owed as it faced liquidation. It just goes to show that even ethical businesses have to behave badly sometimes.

It's pretty confusing out there. Just a few days ago Nationwide told us house prices took a hit in February. Yesterday we reported that fewer UK workers could expect a payrise this year.

Now we have Nationwide telling us that UK consumer confidence reached a two-year high last month. Apparently there was a lot of excitement over our 0.1% crawl out of recession. Are things actually getting better?