A 37-year-old former soldier has been secretly renovating dilapidated benches and play areas in the middle of the night. 

Masked men robbed Focus DIY store in Newport, taking a "significant amount" of cash. 

Corporate administrations have dropped to a pre-credit crunch low, according to analysis by business advisory firm Deloitte. 

Reward your staff, excite your customers, impress your suppliers and give your business a real boost! Entry forms for Britain's Best Retailer Awards are now live. Click here to download. 

Home Retail Group (HRG) has been confirmed as The British Heart Foundation's (BHF) biggest ever fundraiser after raising £3m for the charity. 

Topps Tiles plc has reported that trading in its third quarter has improved in its trading update for the 13 weeks to July 3, 2010. 

Glee has unveiled details of several new visitor attractions at this year's show, which takes place at the NEC Birmingham on September 20-22. 

UK retail sales values rose 1.2% on a like-for-like (lfl) basis in June, compared to the same month last year, according to the latest report from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. 

Builders merchants and DIY group Grafton Group plc has reported group turnover of around €980m for the six months to June 30, 2010. 

Ransons Family Garden Centre opened its doors on Monday, July 5. 

Best Buy's ceo for branded operations Paul Antoniadis has left the company less than three months after the opening of its first UK store. 

Home sales were up 12% at John Lewis for the week to July 3, 2010, as customers returned to the shops after England's demise in the World Cup. 

Focus will target urban infill areas and the UK's high streets with a new smaller 'convenience' DIY store format. 

Pacific Market International (PMI), manufacturer of food and beverage brands Aladdin and Stanley, has partnered up with UK distributor Burton McCall. 

Leading non-food e-tailer ventures into the grocery market with the launch of its new site www.amazon.co.uk/grocery. 

Arthur Clemson, co-founder of Toolbank, passed away on June 5, aged 91. Here, he is remembered by his son, current Toolbank md Steve Clemson. 

UK sales up 4.8% , with general merchandise and home putting in a strong performance but M&S chief exec is cautious about consumer confidence following the budget. 

Independent garden centre group Notcutts has launched its first e-commerce site, with more than 2,000 products listed. 

United Utilities announces it will impose a hosepipe ban in the north west of England – the first in the area for 14 years – as reservoir levels remain low. 

An episode of 'Mary Queen of Shops' which features retail guru Mary Portas filming at Totally DIY 2010 is set to air on Monday, July 12 on BBC2 at 9pm.