The days of easy money for CCP Group, and its partner banks, are over. The Financial Services Authority seems to be getting ready to impose some of its stiffest penalties yet for insurance misselling on York-based CPP Group. In response, CPP says it could go bust within weeks. It is now valued at just £176 million, well below its peak of £561m in February...

Facebook needs Zynga to succeed, with that sort of backing who wouldn’t bet on it?   The social games developer Zynga has just announced fourth-quarter results with revenues of $311 million, up just 1 per cent on its third quarter, but up 59 per cent on the same quarter a year earlier. It also reported profits of 5 cents a share before $510m of stock-based...

Thorntons has been eclipsed on the high street by a company more in tune with the zeitgeist. All of sudden Thorntons, the once dominant high-street chocolate retailer, is in demand, by investors at least. Its stock is now seen as somewhat undervalued and worthy of a speculative punt. Its share price has soared nearly 60 per cent, even though the company is slashing...

Could the reintroduction of local currency make us think more deeply about the value of money?   In May, a Bristol credit union will issue its own bank notes, backed with, and convertible to, pounds sterling. The idea is to encourage more local trading: the currency will only be accepted by local shops that sign up to the scheme. “One of the ways we can...

Is David Cameron’s enthusiasm for more top women just pandering to half of the electorate, or something else altogether? “The case is overwhelming that companies are better run if we have men and women alongside each other”, said David Cameron yesterday during his stay in Stockholm to discuss all things Nordic. He was referring to the idea of introducing quotas...