According to this article the number of new UK car sales rose by 10.8% in June. This is compared with the same period last year and is despite the end of the car scrappage scheme. Figures from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that 195,226 new car were sold in June which is way above expected performance levels. Although private sales were 3.3% lower than last year there has been a rise in both the the fleet market and the business sector which saw an increase of 18.4%.

According to this article a group of MPs are calling for a ban on ticket touting at big sporting events. It is currently only illegal to re-sell tickets for professional matches, however, it has been suggested this should be extended to other event such as Wimbledon, the Grand National and Six Nations Rugby. Legislation already exists to ban the reselling of tickets for the London Olympics and it is hoped this could be extended. There have also been calls for the greater regulation of websites that sell tickets to ensure they are only able to charge the face value of a ticket and a fixed charge for reselling it.

According to this article seven in every ten homes in London is currently brought by foreign investors. The weakness of the pound against other currencies means foreign buyers can secure large discounts. This is shown by the fact that the number of wealthy foreigners buying in London jumped 20% last year. In June last year for example 53% of those buying properties in London worth more than £5 million were brought by overseas buyers, this has now risen to 68%.

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.