Mail on Sunday

What This Priceless Ad Doesn't Say Is They Could Only Find 300 People Daft Enough to Buy One... Live Salutes the Worst Cars Ever Made, Starting with the One and Only Lancia Beta Coupe Hi-Fi (1979)

There are cars, bad cars and then there are the worst cars ever sold. Today there's scarcely a vehicle on sale that you couldn't happily drive across Europe. But a generation ago a large proportion of new models had to be approached with grave reservations in mind or else avoided altogether.

Sport Tycoon Looks at Pounds 1billion Sell-Off ; Secretive Owner Likely to Go to Avoid Spotlight

RECLUSIVE tycoon Mike Ashley is considering a sale or flotation of his Sports World International retailing empire. He has hired investment bank Merrill Lynch to carry out a strategic review and analysts believe that the company, which posted profits close to Pounds 75 million on sales of Pounds 900 million in 2005, could be valued at about Pounds 1 billion.

Emi Holds Talks Over 300p-Plus Takeover

EMI, home to The Beatles and Robbie Williams, could be sold to private equity firm Permira for more than 300p a share, valuing the group at about Pounds 2.4 billion. Britain's biggest music company told the Stock Exchange last Tuesday that it had received an approach. It is now understood Permira is acting alone rather than with another private equity group, as first believed.

Double Award for Our Writers ; Financial Mail

FINANCIAL MAIL'S commitment to quality reporting was again acknowledged last week with a double win at the British Venture Capital Association journalism awards. Chief City correspondent Lucinda Kemeny was honoured as Private Equity Journalist of the Year. The award reflected a string of exclusive stories on City deals, mergers and acquisitions.

Bt Signs Deal with Emi for Tv Service

BT WILL tomorrow announce a major licensing deal with EMI in an attempt to capture some of the television market with the launch of BT Vision. Subscribers to the new 'TV over the internet' service will be able to download music videos from EMI's extensive library, which includes Kylie Minogue and Coldplay.

Sales Can Wait, Sayhighstreet Clothing Giants ; No Pre-Christmas Bonanza for Shoppers As Stores Hold Firm

SHOPPERS' hopes that the High Street giants will launch a glut of full-blown sales in the run-up to Christmas have been dashed. Marks Spencer, Next and John Lewis, which between them account for about 22 per cent of the UK's clothing market, have vowed not to give in to the temptation to slash prices to kick-start festive trading.

Fragrance Shop Founder Is Back

BILL Currie is once again the owner of The Fragrance Shop the perfumes retailer he founded 11 years ago. The Liverpool businessman, who sold the 29-store chain to Peacocks in 2004 for Pounds 11 million, is thought to have paid Pounds 20 million to take back control.

Now the Kitchen Is 'Cool'

IT'S a small, modern cafe on a High Street in Canterbury, Kent. But if the new MS Kitchen, pictured on its opening day last week, is a success, hundreds more could open around the country, writes Jessica McGhie.

Brown to Go in Flurry of Green and Red

GORDON Brown is expected to upgrade his growth forecasts and boast of the longest economic expansion on record when he delivers his tenth and, probably last, Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday. Combining green measures with an assault on red tape, Brown is tipped to increase airline passenger duty and to set out details of a global carbon trading scheme while pledging to reduce the administrative burden on business. And he is likely to pledge continued reforms, coupled with public investment, tha...

The Game's Up, Says Robin Hood Lawyer ; Where's Our Money,Ask Victims of Split-Capital Scandal As Class Law Chief Shuts Down the Company

Lawyer Stephen Alexander was so boastful of his devotion to the cause of victims of injustice especially when they suffered at the hands of giant companies or governments that in 2003 he commissioned a poster of himself as Robin Hood. Indeed, for some years Alexander's firm, Class Law, made more headlines than any other as it aggressively pursued cases, seemingly in defence of the man in the street. From the Equitable Life debacle to the Government's mishandling of foot and mouth, no enemy ...

The Pounds 400m Aquatic Eden

A PLAN for a Pounds 400 million 'aquatic Eden Project' on the site of a former brick quarry will take a big step forward this week with the application for planning permission. The National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats (Nirah) will be on a 250-acre site four miles south of Bedford. It will promote conservation and feature scientific facilities as well as a water adventure park and the world's largest aquarium.

Keep Dramas for Our Screens, Not the Boardroom

There is no doubt about it. The board of ITV scored a major coup last week by luring BBC chairman Michael Grade to take over the top job at the beleaguered broadcaster.

Brothers Bid for a Return to Phase Eight

FASHION tycoons the Bennett brothers have emerged as surprise bidders for Phase Eight, the women's clothing chain in which they invested alongside founder Patsy Seddon. The Pounds 60 million company was recently put up for sale by owner Barclays Private Equity, which backed the Pounds 28.2 million buyout of the retailer last year.

Your Pound Will Soon Be Worth $2, but Is It Such a Good Thing? ; Britons Are Flocking to New York for Festive Bargains. The Cost of Uk Borrowing Is Less Likely to Rise and Inflation Could Even Fall. But the Experts Are Worried

STERLING'S surge against the dollar is helping debt-laden Britons. As the Bank of England meets this week to discuss borrowing costs, the strength of the pound has lengthened the odds on another rise in interest rates. The pound ended last week worth $1.98, up almost five cents over the week, but few expected the slide in the value of the dollar to stop soon.

Save in the Us Not Online From the Uk

EVERYONE seems to be doing Christmas shopping in New York this year. Macy's, Bloomingdales, Saks of Fifth Avenue all the great department stores in the Big Apple resound to British accents as UK shoppers cash in on the weakest dollar since 1992.

Budding Bosses to Get College

THE Government is set to launch a Pounds 600 million entrepreneurship foundation to encourage young people to set up in business. A 15-acre plot has been set aside for a college near Preston, Lancashire, and Pounds 300 million of funding has been secured from corporate backers. Universities have agreed, in principle, to match this private money.

Aim Listing for Council House Buyer

A COMPANY offering a 'buy your council house' service to cash- strapped tenants will join the Alternative Investment Market this week with a value of Pounds 5 million. Diamond Lifestyle will join Aim through a reverse takeover of Enterprise North, a financial services tiddler valued at just Pounds 460,000.

Managers Find Pounds 14m for Change

BUSINESSWOMAN Suzanne Ramsay has led the Pounds 14 million management buyout of Change Recruitment Group, the largest independent consultancy in Scotland. Ramsay, who has been in recruitment for more than 20 years, has, with four of her colleagues, put in a significant sum, backed by buyout specialist NBGI Private Equity.

Bribes Probe 'No Threat' to Pounds 7bn Jet Deal ; Saudis Angered As Fraud Office Inquiry Looks Likely to Drag On for Two More Years a Long-Running

A LONG-RUNNING inquiry into bribery allegations over a Pounds 76 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia is expected to last at least another two years, sources close to the case have told Financial Mail. But even though the revelation will come as depressing news to the Saudi royal family and to BAE Systems, which is trying to sell them 72 hightech Typhoon jets, the Pounds 7 billion contract is not in jeopardy.

New Battle Looms Over A350 Aid

A TRADE war between America and Europe is looming after aviation giant EADS accepted state aid to help fund the launch of the Pounds 9.4 billion Airbus A350. Britain, France, Germany and Italy are believed to have said they will provide about Pounds 2.8 billion of aid to develop the twin- engined widebodied jet. The rest will come from EADS' own resources.