Shops refuse Zavvi vouchers

Most customers with gift vouchers and cards for stricken music chain Zavvi will have to apply to the administrator for a refund.

People who received Zavvi vouchers as Christmas gifts discovered they were not being accepted in stores since it went into administration five days ago. Read more

‘Stagnation’ hits property market

One in five properties in some areas of the UK has been on the market for the whole of 2008, data suggests.

On average across the country, 5% of homes for sale have remained unsold since the beginning of the year, according to property website Globrix. Read more

Debt advice demand ‘increasing’

Demand for assistance from a UK government-funded debt advice service rose by more than 40% in a year, figures show.

The number of calls to the National Debtline increased from about 16,000 a month a year ago to 23,000 in November. Read more

Equity ‘going back into property’

UK homeowners are no longer cashing in on the value of their properties to fund spending, official figures show.

Quarterly Bank of England figures on housing equity withdrawal showed a second successive negative reading between July and September. Read more

Firms to pipe Burma oil to China

Burma’s military government has signed a deal with a consortium of four foreign firms to pipe natural gas into neighbouring China, state media report.

The firms - from South Korea and India - will pipe the gas from fields off Burma’s north-western coast. Read more

Firms to pipe Burma oil to China

Burma’s military government has signed a deal with a consortium of four foreign firms to pipe natural gas into neighbouring China, state media report.

The firms - from South Korea and India - will pipe the gas from fields off Burma’s north-western coast. Read more

Euro vision

By Michael Buchanan
BBC News, Hoganas, Sweden

As a result of the global economic slowdown, both Denmark and Sweden are beginning to question their decision to remain outside the eurozone.

One small Swedish town has decided to take matters into its own hands and is to become a “euro-city” on 1 January. Read more

Dire warning over 2009 job cuts

At least 600,000 jobs could go in the UK in 2009, according to a report by a personnel managers’ professional body.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says even those who escape redundancy face pay freezes. Read more

Firms urge freeze on minimum wage

Business leaders have called for the national minimum wage to be left at the current levels in 2009 amid the economic downturn.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said it believed the minimum wage should not be increased until economic situations had significantly improved. Read more

Newcastle no longer up for sale

Newcastle United are no longer up for sale, club owner Mike Ashley announced on Sunday.

Ashley has taken the club off the market and said he is now “committing to the club as its owner”. Read more

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