Deloitte has failed to overturn a ruling that it did not manage conflicts of interest between MG Rover and the so-called “Phoenix Four” directors in the lead-up to the car maker’s collapse.

Advertising was shaken to its foundations on Sunday as a $35bn (£22.7bn) mega-merger between two industry rivals toppled Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP as the world’s biggest firm.

Yahoo’s earnings rose by 46 per cent in the second quarter, the company said last night as its chief executive, Marissa Mayer, marked one year at  the helm of the internet business that is trying to win back the attention of web users.

Britvic cast further doubt today on whether its Robinsons squash business will mix with AG Barr’s Irn-Bru and Orangina, despite the two titans of soft drinks finally securing official clearance to merge from the Competition Commission.

No Pain, No Gain

The striker is concerned his current club will demand too high a fee from Aston Villa

AstraZeneca has bought the US lung drug specialist Pearl Therapeutics for $1.15bn (£740m) as it continues to resuscitate its product pipeline through deals.

Shares in the controversial FTSE 100 miner Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) dropped yesterday after it confirmed details of an unwanted attempted takeover bid by its oligarch founders and the Kazakhstan government.

Tyrrells, the maker of crisps loved by Middle England, has whetted the appetite of private-equity firms to buy the business for about £100m.

Never have binmen been so in demand in the City. A £221m knockout offer in the bidding battle for the maintenance, waste and recycling supplier May Gurney Integrated Services saw punters pile in.

Glencore finance chief Steven Kalmin saw his total pay package jump by nearly half to £2.13 million in 2012, a  year in which the commodities trading giant’s profits tumbled by three quarters.

Pure Gym is to more than double its number of outlets in London this year, as the low-cost gym operator seeks to raise funds to drive its rapid expansion across the UK. 

American Stan Kroenke and Russian Alisher Usmanov are the major shareholders