Tesco’s UK and Irish stores boss yesterday gave the most bullish assessment of prospects for Britain’s biggest retailer since it was rocked by an accounting scandal in 2014, saying it was winning back customers and “on the cusp of doing something special”.

Retailer Halfords has been left nursing a fall in half-year profits after seeing bike sales slump in the UK and said earnings in the next financial year were also unlikely to grow.

Tesco yesterday revealed the cost of its spectacular decline, with an annual loss of £6.4bn (€9bn), one of the biggest in British corporate history, and warned investors there could be more pain to come.

New boss sets out plans after accounting scandal.

British pet superstore chain Pets at Home today unveiled plans for more than a dozen new stores this year, as it reported a 45% hike in earnings.

Takuma Sato and Robbie Kerr, the respective leaders of the British Formula 3 Championship Class and Scholarship Class, dominated the second qualifying