Unemployment has surged past two million for the first time in 12 years, while the number of people signing on for benefit soared by a record 138,000 last month.Read
The mystery has continued at collapsed engineering firm Wrekin Construction after it emerged a ruby the firm bought for £11 million a year ago was valued on the sellers accounts at just £300,000 a year before.Read
West Midlands house prices steadied early this year, so they declined in percentage by less than those in any other English region over the year to January.Read
Deteriorating economic conditions and changing attitudes mean a previous history of business failure is not automatically a black mark against an entrepreneur obtaining funding for a new business, according to the region’s investment specialists.Read
Products such as Cadbury’s Green & Black’s chocolate have helped the Birmingham confectionary giant defy the export downturn and lead a surge in sales of British food and drink abroad.Read
