The boss of Coffee Republic today condemned internet bulletin boards for moving the price of the firm’s shares and damaging progress as it rolls out its franchise programme.

Coffee Republic pledged to open its first new store in four years today after drawing encouragement from its recently launched deli bar format.

A positive performance by oil stocks helped to keep the London market in the black today.

London shares were hovering around their opening mark today after oil prices resumed their upward trend.

Signs that oil prices may be on the skids and a strong start on Wall Street enabled the London market to rack up big gains today.

British café chain Coffee Republic today said its recovery was well on track after a string of disposals and a switch to a new deli format helped arrest a slump in sales.

The FTSE 100 Index is up 20.3 points at 3861.7 as both BP and Shell are stronger as fears of war in Iraq has sparked speculation about the future price of crude.

EasyGroup has confirmed it's interested in buying Coffee Republic for its property.

FTSE 100 risers and fallers listed.

Caffe Nero has secured a further £7m (€11m) from Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking to fund its expansion.

London shares rallied for the third session in a row today as the market regained some of its recent heavy losses.