Goldman Sachs gives away £17m to UK charities

Goldman Sachs’s charitable foundation gave away £17.4m in the UK last year, up from £14.5m the year before. Schools and universities received the largest proportion of funding from Goldman Sachs Gives, which gave away more than £4m for UK scholarships and education investments over the year, according to accounts recently filed to Companies House.

Car sales in the UK in 2014 return to pre-recession levels

British consumers bought more new cars in 2014 than in any year in the last decade as cheap finance deals and a growing economy fuelled confidence.

RBS 'wanted critic Tomlinson's mortgage back'

A businessman who wrote a government report that criticised RBS has been told he can no longer remain a customer of the bank, Panorama has learned. In the 2013 report, Lawrence Tomlinson accused RBS of systematically wrecking viable businesses.

Small businesses are the UK's greatest advantage – we must help them look overseas

After weathering the recession, recent data suggests the British economy is finally mounting a sustained recovery.

John Lewis overtakes Marks & Spencer as darling of the high street

John Lewis has stolen the UK high street crown from Marks & Spencer after sales in Britain overtook the high street bellwether for the first time.

Tesco: Who says it's hard to make home delivery profits?

Tesco has piled the pressure on its rivals to state whether they make any money from their online operations after the UK's biggest supermarket said its groceries home delivery business made a massive £127m profit last year.

Cloudy outlook makes Canadian companies shy of investment

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian businesses see a challenging year ahead after surviving the weakest two quarters of growth since the 2008-09 recession, and they expect only modest sales growth, cautious investment, and tame inflation, a Bank of Canada poll showed on Monday.

US companies offset weak sales growth with fat margins

After four years of belt-tightening, American companies are good at squeezing more profit out of every dollar of sales - a skill that chief executives regard as critical in the face of an uncertain economy.

Avis Budget Drives Sales, Profits With Europe Business Buy

Some companies search far and wide for a winning acquisition candidate. But the folks at Avis Budget Group ( CAR ) found one in their own backyard.

Toyota set to reclaim 'top car maker' spot from GM

Toyota Motor is set to overtake General Motors and reclaim "the world's biggest car maker" title for 2012, after a bumper year of sales at home and abroad.

ArcelorMittal cuts $4.3bn from value of Europe business

Steel giant ArcelorMittal is to write down the value of its European business by about $4.3bn (£2.6bn) because of the economic downturn on the continent.

American Companies That Give Back The Most, 2012

Which of America’s big companies are the most philanthropic? Each year The Chronicle of Philanthropy does a major project on corporate giving, and compiles two lists, one that tallies philanthropy in terms of raw dollars and another that looks at giving as a share of pre-tax profits.

GM posts quarterly loss on weakening euro

US car giant General Motors (GM) has reported a fall in profits due to weak sales in Europe, where the debt crisis has weighed on the euro.

Companies add 163,000 jobs, but manufacturing falters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies hired more workers than expected in July, but continued weakness in the manufacturing sector pointed to sluggish economic growth.

Spanish firms cut prices, halt dividends to face downturn

Telefonica suspends dividend payments, Mango cuts prices and Santander boosts its debt provisions: Spanish companies are stepping up measures against an economic crisis that has no end in sight.

US companies are adding more slowly to stockpiles

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies restocked more slowly in March, a trend that has helped slow economic growth this year.

UK companies remain optimistic, surveys suggest

UK companies remain confident despite the UK economy entering a double-dip recession, two new surveys suggest.