Sir Philip Green, the owner of the fashion group Arcadia, hopes to launch its first Topshop and Topman stores in China next year, as the billionaire said retailers should focus on improving their performance and stop "crying" about tough trading conditions on the high street.

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The next generation hits the high street

Menswear favourite Burton mixes things up by taking on a new student designer. Rebecca Gonsalves reports

29 April 2011: Rear of the Year

They walk! they talk! they smile a lot! A year in Will&Kate

There were speeches, handshakes, and ever so many parties – but somehow the royal couple have survived a year. Harriet Walker marks the occasion

The 50 Best lingerie

From foxy florals to sexy sets, Emma Akbareian selects the underwear that's too good to hide

Barratts and Priceless go under again

Barratts Priceless, the retail footwear group, has collapsed into administration again, to leave nearly 4,000 jobs hanging by a thread.

Fears for festive trading after high street sales sink

CBI says consumers are likely to remain cautious because of the uncertain economic climate

Business Diary: Can't keep a good man down

Back by popular demand: Andrew Gowers, the former FT editor who these days is a public relations man for hire. PR Week reveals Gowers is joining the Association of Financial Markets in Europe on a three-month contract – the trade body's boss Simon Lewis says he has "been in some very interesting situations". He's not joking – Gowers did PR for Lehman Brothers until it went belly up and then moved on to BP, only to step down following the Deepwater Horizon debacle. Third time lucky, Lewis presumably hopes.

Bhs slashes annual losses

The store group Bhs sharply reduced its losses last year.

Retailers ban 'sexy' underwear for children under 12

Thongs, black underwear and padded bras have been banned for sale to under-12s by high street retailers after a backlash against the sexualisation of children.

Green talks to Primark over Bhs sales

Sir Philip Green is in early talks to sell a batch of his Bhs stores to Primark as part of a cost-reduction exercise across his Arcadia brands.

Sir Philip Green: Arcadia group will be debt-free by end of 2012

Sir Philip Green, the tycoon behind the Topshop to Bhs retail empire, vowed his group would be debt-free in two years' time as he unveiled a "solid" 6.4 per cent rise in its profits yesterday.

Efficiency review finds 'staggering waste'

A review of Government efficiency by a leading businessman has uncovered a "staggering" waste of money, it was revealed today.

David Prosser: It may have provoked but Cable's speech was hardly anti-capitalist

Outlook We can surely forgive Vince Cable one afternoon of political grandstanding. In opposition, Mr Cable was the LibDems' showman-in-chief, a far more effective and respected critic of the Labour government than the Conservatives with whom he now works. How the hair-shirt of office must have chafed these four long months. Even when his Tory colleagues asked Sir Philip Green, that master of tax avoidance, to work for coalition, the Business Secretary felt compelled to bite his tongue.

Sir Philip Green: Taxing issues for the rag trade king

Britain's sixth richest man is a ruthless deal-maker. But as he enters politics, will his lifestyle and financial affairs survive scrutiny?

Lib Dem fury at coalition job for 'super-rich' Green

Senior figures voice dismay at billionaire being asked to lead Whitehall spending review
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