Business week in review

In profit...

Are concerns over a lack of gender equality in business becoming redundant? Last week there was anecdotal evidence to suggest as much.

On Monday, Karren Brady was named as the Government's small-business adviser at the Conservative party conference. The Apprentice star accused the previous Labour administration of having "bankrupted the country", fuelling talk she fancies becoming an MP.

The same day, CMS Cameron McKenna partner Fiona Woolf was named Lord Mayor of London, only the second woman in the role's 800-year history.

On Tuesday, Harriet Green's revival of Thomas Cook continued when she unveiled a new, golden heart logo.

... at a loss

Won't anyone ever think of the pawnbrokers? With all these moans over the increasing cost of living, we sometimes forget that the slumping price of gold can hurt these well-liked members of our society.

On Monday, Albemarle & Bond announced an emergency £35m fundraising with 33 shop closures. Not a nice welcome for Chris Gillespie, who joins as chief executive tomorrow. Shares in Unilever fell by 3.36 per cent on Tuesday, after the Bovril-to-Vaseline giant announced that sales in emerging markets would be sharply lower than expected. The news heaps pressure on boss Paul Polman.

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke announced a 23.5 per cent collapse in the interim results on Wednesday.