The Co-op today hailed its return to the big league of food retailing thanks to a £1.6bn (€2bn) takeover of rival Somerfield.

Oasis Breeze will attempt to break new ground for Gavin Blake’s Buckinghamshire yard at Newbury on Thursday or in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cherry Hinton Stakes at the Newmarket July meeting.

BBC staff will hear details today of plans to axe up to 2,800 jobs to help plug a £2bn (€2.9bn) funding shortfall, which could lead to a wave of strikes by journalists and broadcasting workers.

A TOTAL of 18 people were charged yesterday with drugs offences following an undercover Garda operation in west Dublin.

PLANS were unveiled yesterday for a conference where business gurus from a wide variety of disciplines will address transition year students from across Leinster.

The new owners of Somerfield cut their losses on the Kwik Save chain by selling the brand and the majority of its stores today.

The new owners of Somerfield were today reported to have hoisted the for-sale sign above its loss-making Kwik Save chain.

The chief executive of clothing retailer Matalan is to leave the company at the end of the year – with an extra 12 months' worth of pay – it was announced today.

Microsoft has launched a new information tool to help consumers and businesses determine the legitimacy of software claiming to be genuine Microsoft software.

Investors in the UK will be paying close attention to the retail sector this week as a spate of high street names release updates and official sales figures are published.

Telecom stocks have bounced back helping the FTSE 100 Index enjoy a small rise in early trading.