It appears that one company at least is still doing well despite the recession. Tesco have recently announced record profits of £3 billion, that’s a rise of 10% since last year. It is estimated that the company currently takes more than £1 billion a weeks and profits are around £8.6 million a day. Tesco bosses say that the company is thriving because Tesco attracts customers with price cuts and discounts. Despite this claim research by mysupermarket.co.uk has shown that a basket of staple food costs 9% more than it did this time last year. As prices go up there appears to be evidence that stores are taking an large percentage of shoppers money. The big supermarkets are also accused of boosting their profits by squeezing suppliers.

Bay Trading has announced that it is to go into administration. The decision was taken after credit insurance was withdrawn following the release of it results last week. The move puts 1,000 jobs in 268 branches at risk. The accountants Deloitte will be the administrators, they intend to keep the chain trading whilst they try to find a buyer. Bay Trading’s parent company Alexon operates two separate businesses Epcoscan which trades as Bay Trading and Alexon Brands which runs Ann Harvey, Kaliko, Eastex and Alex and Co. Alexon has said that Bay Trading has been making a loss and has been relying on the rest of the group to survive. It has also said that its other brands will be unaffected by the administration.

According to this article a £16 hi-fi from Tesco has been voted the best on the market. In the online survey carried our by Reevoo the Tesco hi-fi (pictured left) beat more expensive products made by Roberts and Sony to take the gold award in the hi-fi category. The winners were chosen by half a million consumers who submitted reviews to the website about products they owned. The £16 Tesco stereo came first with the Roberts Sound MP43 which costs £186 coming second and the Sony MHC-EC78PI costing £100 taking the bronze award. For your £16 the Tesco hi-fi has a CD player and two speakers. It was praised for it good sound quality and easy to use controls. At £16 I might just get one.

According to this article wine sales have plummeted as people begin to feel the effect of the recession. The article says that the amount of win brought in pubs and clubs has shrunk by 1%, that's the equivalent of around 12 million bottles. The figures from The Grocer also show that supermarkets, convenience stores and garage forecourts are also selling less wine, whilst off licenses have recorded a drop of 6% in sales value. Personally I haven't been buying less wine to drink at home but I do tend to drink less if I go out to a pub or restaurant as prices are usually overinflated.

It appears that despite the credit crunch some people are still prepared to pay for luxury items. This wedding dress costs $1.5million and is made from peacock feathers. It took eight workers 40 days to sew together. Its certainly interesting but I think it might be a bit too much as a wedding dress.

This is interesting its a suit made from recycled plastic bottles. It has been made by the Designers at Debenhams and costs £55. It is made entirely out of plastic bottles which were destined for landfill sites. The bottles are cleaned, their labels are removed and then they are ground down into chips which are melted down. The mixture is then refined and woven into a type of polyester. Around 50 bottles are used in each suit. The jacket costs £35 and the trousers £20. In contrast to the peacock feather wedding dress it is hoped that it might appeal to people who are seeking a bargain in the current difficult economic conditions. It is available in sizes 10-22 and can be purchased in Debenhams stores countrywide.

If you have a bit of spare cash then you might be interested in this swimsuit. At £2,000 its not cheap but it is hand embroidered with 5,000 Swarovski crystals in various shades of ruby, sapphire, emerald and gold. If you want one you can get it at Selfridges but they are expecting a lot of interest in the product, so there is likely to be a waiting list.

I read an article some time ago that suggested one in every 50 pound coins is a fake. This seems a lot but new figures from the Royal Mint suggest the problem is actually much worse and that the figure is more like one in every 20. It appears the current process of finding fake coins is not very accurate and only manages to find between 30 and 40% of the fakes because it errs on the side of caution rather than risk taking real coins out of circulation. Willings a company that tests coins collected from vending machines and car parks found that when they carried out a test on 2000 pounds coins between 3 and 4% were fake. Fake coins can be identified because the lettering on the side if often indistinct or in the wrong typeface.

With people suffering during the credit crunch some firms are coming up with cut price products. This article highlights a bikini that that costs just 99p. It is made by the budget chain the 99p Store who say it can help you to create the Cheryl Cole look. To complete the look you can also get a cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses and flipflops, all for under a fiver.