If this article is to believed Unilever has introduced new terms which are likely to squeeze small suppliers. Previously they took up to 30 days to pay their suppliers but they have recently ruled that will now change to 90 days. The change will be effective within the next week and warning letters have already been sent to many firms they deal with notifying them of the change. Although an initiative called the Prompt Payment Code was introduced in 2008 to encourage firms to settle bills quickly, Unilever have not signed up to it. Many other large firms such as Dell, Carlsberg, United Biscuits and Argos have all recently taken similar steps.

Toyota have announced another recall after faults were found in some Lexus and Crown vehicles. Initially the vehicles are being recalled in Japan but action is likely to follow for overseas markets. The recall affects around 91,903 vehicles in Japan and as many as 270,000 worldwide. The problem which is caused by a flaw in the valve spring can make the vehicle stall whilst it is still moving. So far 220 complaints have been received about the problem but no crashes have been reported to date.

According to this article a fault has been found which can lead to engine problems in some Lexus models. Toyota have said that the problem is down to "improperly functioning valve springs have been found in some Lexus engines and there is a small possibility that abnormal engine noise or unstable idling may occur". Affected models include the Lexus GS 450h, GS460, LS460 and LS 600hIt is thought the issue could affect as many 3,000 cars in the UK.

In some good news for the car industry one thousand new jobs are to be created at Jaguar Land Rover’s Halewood plant. The firm which is based in Warwick will be building the new Range Rover called the Evoque which has been described as the greenest Range Rover yet.

Tate and Lyle have agreed the sale of their sugar business for £211 million. Tate and Lyle has refineries in Silvertown and the East end of London which have been operating for 130 years and owns the world’s oldest brand Lyle’s Golden Syrup. The new owner American Sugar Refining has said there will be no job losses at the company's London refineries.

According to this article cash machines that dispense nothing but £5 notes are to installed across the UK. The move comes as the Bank of England tries to increase the circulation of £5 notes in the system. Bank Machine a firm based in Hertfordshire has recently installed 21 of the machines across the country after a trial of two machines put around 100,000 new £5 notes into circulation every month. It seems we may soon be seeing more £5 notes appearing in our change.

If this article is correct then UK tenants pay the highest rents in Western Europe. According to the article it costs an average of £348 a month to rent a room in a shared property in the UK. That’s 75% more than it would cost in Spain where the equivalent would cost just £199 a month. France was the second most expensive to rent a room but at and average of £285 it still worked out a lot cheaper than the UK. In Italy the average cost was £282 a month. The figures come from the flatshare website easyroommate.co.uk which says the high cost of renting a room in the UK is largely down to the lack of mortgage finance available which forces first time buyers to continue renting thus driving up demand.

If you are interested in horse betting then you might want to check out this website. It saves the walk to your local betting shop and allows you to do all your horse racing betting online. If you are new to the site you can get 20% free cash on your first deposit. Then just check out the live odds and research the jockeys, trainers and horses before making your selection and waiting to see if your horse comes in.

BT are to start offering the Sky Sports channels at a reduced price. BT Vision customers who want to receive Sky Sports 1 and 2 will be able to receive them for £as little as £6.99 extra a month which undercuts Sky. The offer is available to customers who subscribe to a bundle offer of broadband and calls for a 24 month period, the total monthly cost for the deal is £16.99 a month which is still cheaper than Sky.

According to this article BT have recently signed a deal with Sky which will enable them to offer Premier League football. Although the exact details of the deal have not been announced BT have announced that they have signed a wholesale deal to offer Sky Sports 1 and 2. BT customer will be able to sign up from the beginning of August, a couple of weeks before the start of the Premier League. It is thought it will cost between £15 and £20 a month although this is still to be confirmed.

Barclaycard have recently cut the amount of cashback that customers earn for spending on their credit cards. The move comes about a month after the company withdrew cashback cards for new customers and stopped promoting its Freedom rewards scheme. Customers currently receive the cash equivalent of 1% for the first £200 of monthly spending and 0.5% for spending above this level. From the start of August this will reduce to 0.25% for the first £200, 0.35% for spending between £200 and £1,500 and 1% for spending over £1,500. The company have said the cuts have been made for commercial reasons and that there are no plans to axe the scheme altogether.