John Makinson: the consumer must be given what the consumer wants. Photograph: David Levene/for the Guardian Penguin this week celebrates its 75th year and is marking the anniversary by repackaging a series of seminal books from the 1960s to the 1980s. Although the company might afford itself a brief look backwards, it feels as though [...]

David Cameron defended his remarks at a press conference with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photograph: Pool/REUTERS David Cameron used a visit to Turkey to make his strongest intervention yet in the intractable Middle East conflict today when he likened the experience of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza strip to that of a “prison camp”. Although he [...]

The World Cup had a beneficial effect on the nation’s shops, if not England fans. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Hot weather and a boost to spending from the World Cup combined to give Britain’s retailers their strongest month of sales growth since the pre-crash days of 2007, the CBI said today. The monthly snapshot of [...]

Sir Richard Branson is in talks with private equity firms over sale of Virgin Active the health and fitness chain. Photograph: Peter Schneider/EPA Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Active is in early discussions with a handful of private equity groups over a possible £1bn sale of the health and fitness chain. The UK’s second-biggest gym operator, [...]