'Are you knackered? I'm knackered!" laughs Joe Swift. It is 9am the Sunday before Chelsea Flower Show opens, and he's yelling down Main Avenue at Arne Maynard, a Chelsea veteran of many years. Behind the scenes here, with 36 hours to go before the Queen turns up, there is cameraderie and criticism, some dangerous forklift-truck driving, RHS assessors armed with clipboards, TV crews armed with blue ropes to mark their sightlines, and very tired people armed with rude jokes about "Diarmuid's erection" (an 80ft scaffolding pyramid of plants designed by former Grand Designs bad boy Diarmuid Gavin).

Home Retail Group, the owner of the Argos and Homebase chains, has ditched its final dividend for the first time in six years, after a slump in profits and sales at the general merchandise giant.

The owner of catalogue retailer Argos pulled the plug on its shareholder dividend today after revealing a 60 per cent plunge in annual profits.

Argos left the door open for future store closures today after a weak consumer electronics market caused a huge slide in profits at the catalogue chain.

Emily Jenkinson picks up some top tips for DIY-ers at the new decorating course for Homebase staff

Terry Duddy, chief executive of the Home Retail Group, will this week have to defend another set of dire fourth-quarter sales at Argos amid suggestions that the group will ditch its final dividend.

The singular comic talents of Stefan Golaszewski are mostly expended on works for television - as in Him & Her, a sitcom that applies Royle Family techniques to twentysomething slackerdom with intermittently hilarious results.

The owner of Argos blamed the weak consumer electronics market today for another sharp drop in sales at the catalogue retailer.

Floors-2-Go, the floor covering retail specialist, was back in the spotlight last night following its decision to close a number of shops in the West Midlands.

The retail restructuring specialist Hilco and the private equity firm OpCapita are through to the second round of bids for Comet, the ailing UK chain that parent Kesa Electricals is trying to sell.

The markets' severe plunge may have shown few signs of abating yesterday, but the return of talk that its Argos business could attract buyers meant Home Retail was one of the few stocks finishing ahead.

It's not quite over; three Habitat stores will remain for the time being in London.

The future of up to 30 stores and 720 jobs was put at risk today after the UK side of retail brand Habitat went into administration.