Toolbank is the latest company to sign up for the Rainy Day Trust's Partnership scheme. 

New BHETA initiative will bring 31 Homebase buyers together under one roof for member 'speed-dating' event. 

According to new research, online shoppers in the UK show little forgiveness towards e-commerce sites that offer poor navigation, slow performance or unsatisfactory check-out but reward those sites that perform well and use personalised marketing tactics. 

Home Retail Group is in talks to buy home furnishings retailer Habitat, according to press reports today. 

Many retailers will be feeling the pinch tomorrow, the day on which quarterly rents for commercial property are traditionally paid. 

Comet is to shut 17 stores after making a £9m loss in retail profit for the year to April 30, 2011. 

Asda income tracker reveals a £61 a month drop in disposable income for UK households in May, as earnings growth lags behind price inflation. 

Fashion and homewares chain Life & Style is to close 22 of its 150 stores, with the loss of 274 jobs. 

Yesterday's BHETA agm saw John Newcomb re-elected for his second year as president of the association. 

Retail chain in discussions to open a new store on the Stephen H. Smith Garden & Leisure site in Scunthorpe 

Ripat Ltd, which owns Richard Burbidge and sister company Atkinson & Kirby, has acquired troubled timber products firm FW Mason from administrators for an undisclosed sum. 

The HTA has welcomed the revised Code of Practice offering new guidance on water use restrictions water companies can impose during shortages. 

Supermarket chain confirms Mr King's departure after just six months as chief operating officer. 

The book, a second edition of Richard Jackson's 150 Top Gardening Tips proved so popular with QVC customers, all 10,000 copies were sold in just 36 minutes. 

The number of empty units in retail parks has dropped as more high street retailers make the move to out-of-town stores. 

Swedish home retailer picks up accolade at the 2011 Cannes Lions Awards and is praised for its "creative, unconventional and humorous advertising". 

The first 10 Focus stores shut their doors yesterday, with 112 set to follow this week, as shoppers loaded up on cut-price items. 

Wickes md Jeremy Bird has been promoted to chairman of parent company Travis Perkins' retail arm. 

More than 400 senior executives from 35 countries gathered in Brussels last week to attend the inaugural Global DIY Summit, organised by EDRA and fediyma. 

The unemployment rate for the three months to April 2011 fell to 7.7%, down 0.3% on the previous quarter and the largest quarterly drop since August 2000.