Existing home-owners and first time house buyers are being offered incentives to finally get themselves onto the property ladder with the launch of the government’s mortgage indemnity scheme. Construction companies and the taxpayer are to be co-guarantors for new properties purchased. The government expects that the NewBuy scheme, which is being supported by Nationwide, Barclays [...]

Dutch satellite navigation device manufacturer TomTom has experienced a 76% fall in profits during the fourth quarter, as the firm is struck by decreasing demand for their devices such as TomTom One and TomTom Go. Net profit plummeted to 12m euros from 52m a year previously. Total income fell 31% as consumer sales dropped 40%. [...]

The property market experienced encouraging signs in February as potential home buyer numbers reached the highest level in 5 years, according to a new report. The amount of potential buyers signing up with estate agents rose by 18%, the greatest interest witnessed since the 23% increase back in February 2007, as reported by Hometrack. Buyer [...]

The foremost mobile phone manufacturers yesterday commenced the introduction of the newest smartphones and tablet computers in Barcelona, Spain prior to the official opening today of Mobile World Congress. The annual trade fair began with HTC unveiling their newest high-end smartphone, the HTC One X that enables users to purchase products and services via a [...]

The latest handheld console from Sony is scheduled for launch in Europe tomorrow, the Playstation Vita was released in Japan at Christmas and the company claims that over half a million of the consoles have already been purchased. The Playstation Vita will go head-to-head with the Nintendo 3DS, featuring a quad-core central processor and 5″ [...]

Luxury car manufacturer Bentley has announced a 37% surge in sales during 2011, with the Crewe based company claiming that demand from customers has returned to levels experienced before the economic downturn. Last year the firm sold 7,003 vehicles, with prices beginning at £133,000, as the US continues to be Bentley’s primary marketplace with 2,021 [...]

Millions of people have postponed shopping for many of their Christmas gifts until the sales on Boxing Day, according to a recent report. Over 3.5 million shoppers intend to purchase presents such as games, clothes and cosmetics when the sales begin, as reported by the consumer watchdog Which?. Reductions began well ahead of Christmas this [...]

John Lewis, the largest department store group, reported that sales have risen by more than 10% in the week to December 17, helped by sales of Christmas gifts and decorations. The employee owned group said toys, electronics, home accessories and also household furniture and Christmas decorations were selling well throughout the week, and the current [...]

Fewer mortgages were advanced in October, with a drop of 8% from the previous month – and 10% less mortgage loans were made available to first-time buyers compared to September, loan providers have stated. In October there had been 44,500 home loans granted for property purchases, down 8% on September, according to the Council of [...]

Japanese car manufacturer Honda report that it is to recall 313,000 cars worldwide as a result of concerns regarding potentially defective airbags. The vehicles, including the popular Accord and Civic models were all assembled between 2001 and 2003 and have airbags which could burst open because of faulty inflators. The majority of the recalled vehicles [...]