SHARES in the Mean Fiddler Music Group, the concert promotion business run by Irishman Vince Power, crashed by more than 20% yesterday after the company sacked its new chief executive and pulled out of a planned acquisition.

VINCE POWER, the Waterford-born businessman, has netted nearly €18 million from the sale of his entire stake in the Mean Fiddler Music group.

MUSIC GROUP Mean Fiddler stands to boost turnover by millions of euro after it announced plans yesterday for the world’s first service to recognise tunes heard in public and download a digital version over the internet.

JANUARY’S retail sales figures showed strong growth, boosted by post-Christmas sales and the buoyancy in the car market typical of the start of the New Year.