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

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

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

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.

The store group Bhs sharply reduced its losses last year.

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.

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, 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.

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

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.

As a compatriot, you don't have to believe every detail of Pavlos Joseph's defence of how he encountered David Beckham in the England dressing-room in Cape Town to find at least one element of his story grimly plausible: the bit where he says: "My name's Pavlos and I'm just looking for a toilet."

Small shops hit back at a push by large retail chains for a relaxation in Sunday trading laws that would allow them to trade for longer on Boxing Day this year, arguing that the change was opposed by the majority of the public.