Luxury boat builders Sealine International, based in Kidderminster, is to shed 72 jobs.

BAE Systems will face questions on Thursday over the threat of closure of its Portsmouth shipyard and the failure of its Eurofighter consortium to land a large contract to supply fighter jets to India.

Stocks have had their worst day of the year after Greece hit a roadblock on its way to a critical bailout.

The UK's banks missed targets for lending to smaller businesses in 2011 by more than £1 billion, according to new figures.

Struggling electricals chain Comet is poised to cut 450 jobs in a drive for the "significant savings" needed to safeguard its future.

Barclays boss Bob Diamond hailed the bank's UK lending record as he claimed: "We really got on our horses to get businesses going."

Barclays shares have advanced despite a profits fall but world markets slid after an agreement on crucial austerity measures in Greece fell apart.

Airline Flybe has posted flat revenues in the UK as it highlighted the tricky conditions that caused its shares to hit turbulence last month.

Getting young people into work using a tax on bankers' bonuses is a major priority for Labour, leader Ed Miliband has said at the launch of the party's local election campaign.

Draft legislation in Greece for new austerity measures needed for a 130 billion euro bailout deal has been submitted to parliament.

Lehman Brothers Holdings is suing several units of Citigroup to recover 2.5 billion US dollars it transferred to a back-up account at Citi months before seeking bankruptcy court protection.

Asian stock markets dropped today after Europe's finance ministers demanded more spending cuts from Greece before clearing a 130 billion euro bailout to stave off the country's bankruptcy.