British firms will be in line for lucrative contracts to supply hundreds of tonnes of food and 250,000 toilet rolls to athletes if the UK stages the Olympic Games in 2012, the head of London’s bid said today.

Marks & Spencer Group said today that Barbara Cassani has resigned from her position as non-executive director of Marks & Spencer Group due to her increasing commitments to London's bid for the Olympic Games in 2012.

Several cities outside London are expected to be confirmed as Olympic football venues when the blueprint for the city’s bid for the 2012 Games is unveiled tomorrow.

JK Rowling’s fifth Harry Potter book has been shortlisted for the adult fiction prize at this year’s WHSmith Book Awards.

WHEN Barbara Cassani sold the no frills airline Go to easyJet for £374 million, just four years after she had launched the company for British Airways, she made an estimated £16 million.

Barbara Cassani has been named Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year in recognition of her part in the airline's huge growth.

Go carried 81.5% more passengers in March than in the same month last year.

Demand for no-frills air travel continued unabated last month, with easyJet and Go both enjoying a surge in passenger numbers, figures out today show.

Low-cost airline Go announced today it was increasing its services between Northern Ireland and London by 50% following the decision by British Airways to abandon the route.

All eyes will be on British Airways’ chief executive Rod Eddington on Tuesday when he announces the group’s year-end results.