The Royal Navy will have to wait up to two years longer for its £4bn aircraft carriers under cost-cutting plans being finalised by John Hutton, defence secretary

The investment fund, established by insurance entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, is expected to focus on acquiring insurance, life assurance and asset management groups

Members of the US Congress gave the Big Three US automakers' request for billions of dollars in federal aid a far warmer welcome than just two weeks ago in an indication that a bail-out of Detroit may be gaining political momentum

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is the latest company to be caught up in the collapse of Woolworths and is looking to avoid liabilities of up to £100m

Sport's financial crisis deepens as the Japanese carmaker breaks the news that it is pulling out of Formula One, prompting flood of calls from staff to other racing teams

Interest rates were slashed by another percentage point, bringing the official cost of borrowing down to 2 per cent, equal to the lowest rate since the Bank of England was founded in 1694

The financial services group emerged as one of the few winners of the economic downturn as it revealed demand for its insolvency expertise has soared

Britain's banks could be forced to buy hundreds of billions of pounds in government bonds under proposed rules designed to make them less vulnerable to market shocks

A day after official figures signalled that the country was moving perilously close to recession, the Australian government instructed its workforce to take a break

Merrill Lynch warned that oil prices could fall as low as $25 a barrel next year if the recession affecting the US, Europe and Japan extended to China, just as oil prices tumbled below $44 a barrel