Wizzard once wished it could be Christmas every day. Well this year, half their dream has come true

It may be lucky that HM Revenue & Customs was not in charge when the country needed a boost from quantitative easing. The hapless taxman yesterday revealed that it had failed to send out thousands of reminders to citizens to pay their bills on time because it had, er, run out of paper. A red-faced Revenue spokesman admitted that the cock-up had come about due to an "exceptionally high demand this year".

The daughter of Mohamed al-Fayed has acquired Issa, the clothing label favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge for an undisclosed sum.

Mohamed al-Fayed is to return to shopping with a new online retail empire.

The doughnut chain Krispy Kreme is to double its number of UK stores over the next five years as the country's desire for sweet treats grows.

The British studio behind the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises is set to change hands after a deal worth £96.1m was agreed yesterday.

Didn't he use to own a rather famous shop?

Nothing to do with the coffee chain then?

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed remains fully committed to the Barclays Premier League club despite the Cottagers posting a £16.9million loss for the last financial year.

I associate Christmas with pressure mostly – pressure to see people I don't really want to see, pressure to buy things that people don't want for people you don't like, pressure to give your kids the full "Christmas experience", bah humbug.... This was why I found myself in the admittedly glorious Mandarin Oriental hotel in London – slap bang in between Harrods and the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. The last time I was at this hotel, I was outside as a paparazzo, waiting for Pierce Brosnan to emerge. When he eventually did, he stamped on my foot and called me an "annoying fat fuck" while still smiling sweetly for the camera.