Marks and Spencer’s share of the UK clothing market reached its highest level in almost eight years after a robust Christmas period, fuelling hopes its years-long restructuring is paying off.Clothing and home sales grew 8.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis and 8.8 per cent…

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit said on Thursday it had begun “active discussions” about returning to the UK later this year for another attempt at launching satellites into orbit, despite Monday’s failed mission from Britain’s first spaceport in Cornwall.The US-based company said the next launch…

Halfords has sounded the alarm on profits, blaming lingering staff shortages and weaker demand for high-ticket items, sending the shares down 20 per cent. The bike and car parts seller said it now expected underlying profit before tax to be between £50mn and £60mn in…

Shares in Ubisoft fell by nearly a fifth after the French games company slashed its forecasts and said that sales over the crucial holiday season had been “markedly and surprisingly slower than expected”. Paris-based Ubisoft, best known for its Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance franchises,…

Tesco has reported Christmas sales growth of more than 7 per cent, as the UK’s largest supermarket kept its full-year profit forecast.The supermarket chain on Thursday said that UK sales in the six weeks to January 7 grew 7.2 per cent, similar to the 7.1…

Aziz Sunderji is a freelance journalist who used to work at the WSJ. Before that he spent 14 years as a strategist at Barclays Spare a thought for the American first-time homebuyer, for whom things have rarely looked so grim. US home prices rose 40…