The North needs to hold on to its brightest people if its economy is to prosper, First Minister Ian Paisley has said.

The British government is coming under increasing pressure from the business community outside Northern Ireland for a more competitive corporation tax level, a Stormont Assembly Committee chairman claimed today.

Negotiations continue in the North today, before a crucial decision on power-sharing.

Nationalist parties in the north have tonight criticised suggestions that the North's new power-sharing Executive could have an eight week gap between its first and second meetings.

The North’s largest business organisation, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), has given a cautious welcome to the announcement by British Chancellor Gordon Brown outlining details of the financial package for the North.

Politicians in the North are to be given extra funds by Dublin and London if they are to revive devolved government, British Chancellor Gordon Brown revealed today.

Troubled high street retailer Marks & Spencer is looking to increase the number of suppliers it deals with directly in a bid to cut out middlemen and reduce costs, it emerged today.

British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, reports that David Varney, non-executive chairman of Britain's third-largest mobile company mmO2 Plc, is to quit in the middle of next year.

MmO2 announced further, larger scale restructuring for its UK and German operations.

The FTSE-100 Index is up 32.5 points as the London market picks up from a positive session on Wall Street.