Richard Desmond 'shakes' on deal to buy Channel 5, but is that enough to seal a deal? It is being reported that the entrepreneur, and owner of the Daily Express & Daily Star newspapers as well as OK magazine, Richard Desmond has 'shaken hands' on a £100M deal to buy television channel Channel 5 from German owners RTL.

Barclays bring 10 business dreams one step closer with £500,000 bonus Barclays bank has announced the 10 regional winners of its £500,000 “Take One Small Step” competition, which the bank hopes will help aspiring businesses make ambitions a reality.

Business confidence down again with South-East small firms facing battle Small businesses in the South-East are still facing a struggle towards recovery with business confidence worsening, a survey has discovered.

The pieces come together for dementia-battling jigsaw inventor A young entrepreneur who was inspired by his ill grandfather to create something that would help keep dementia patients mentally active has won the South East heat of the search for the UK’s best new business.

Secret millionaires select web mapping service as the North's best new business Two entrepreneurs who appeared on Channel 4's The Secret millionaire have selected online mapping service Gaist as the winner of Northern England heat of the nationwide small business competition The Pitch.

Sellafield Apprenticeship scheme wins top annual award Sellafield Ltd received a top accolade for its Apprenticeship scheme at the Apprenticeship Awards, organised by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS). The award recognises the firm’s success in using apprentices to meet the needs of its business and the community it operates in.

Social entrepreneur goes from major surgery to glittering award success The founder of a social enterprise who was once given a month to live has won the Scottish heat of 2010’s biggest search for Britain's best new business.

X Factor star scoops apprenticeship accolade Two students from the Bolton based training provider, Alliance Learning, have landed a prestigious Aim Higher award for exceptional dedication to their training development.

Salaries drop over £2600 in last six months The average annual salary has dropped by more than £2,600 in the last six months, it has emerged today.

Confessions of a British worker: "How clean is your desk?" Divorce papers, an Ann Summers bondage bear, an antique bugle and toilet rolls were among the odds and ends reported to be cluttering British officeworkers’ desks, according to a recently published survey.

Business missing out on the value of customer advice Advice from customers has the biggest positive impact on business growth yet almost half are missing out on this valuable insight, a new study has revealed.

Government to cull business websites to save millions The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, has today pledged to scrap hundreds of unnecessary and expensive government websites and slash the cost of the remaining sites to save millions of pounds.

Raising capital gains tax will 'devastate' entrepreneurs, warns Lord Sugar Raising the rate of capital gains tax would have a 'devastating' effect on entrepreneurs, Lord Sugar has warned.

The hunt is on to discover the technology tycoons of tomorrow The hunt is on to find the next generation of technology tycoons as ‘Discovering Start-Ups 2010’, a brand new competition and support programme, launches across the East of England today.

The franchisor of the year unveiled The winners of the 21st bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards 2010, supported by Express Newspapers, have been announced at the award ceremony in Nottingham.

British businesses are missing a trick in export markets Only one in three of Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises have caught on to the potential benefits of global export markets, despite evidence that overseas demand is helping to fuel growth amongst many UK firms, according to a latest study by Lloyds TSB Commercial.

effoff.com to penisland.net hilarious website addresses revealed Would you book a holiday through oldmanshaven.com? Visit ipwine.com for a bottle of Chardonnay? Or would you download music from mp3shits.com?

British collaboration firm Huddle secure new $10.2M investment Huddle, the British company company which lets you connect and work securely with other people in the cloud, has announced that it has closed a $10.2 million Series B round of funding led by Matrix Partners, with participation from existing investors Eden Ventures and Charles McGregor, Huddle’s chairman.

Peter Jones launches capital and fund for budding entrepreneurs With economic growth remaining low one of the UK's leading entrepreneurs Peter Jones, through his eponymous foundation, in association with the National Enterprise Academy (NEA), has launched a new enterprise fund for budding entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.

Long working hours increase heart risk People who regularly work 10 or 11 hour days increase their heart disease risk by nearly two-thirds, research suggests.