Anthony Thompson told the Yorkshire Post that he wanted Asda to beat Tesco and become the number one supermarket clothing retailer by the end of 2008.

By 2011, he said he hoped that George would achieve an even bigger prize and become the biggest clothing retailer by volume.

The group, which is based in 353 stores and has global sales of about £2bn, has reduced its number of ranges and is focusing less on the under-25s and more on its core customers.

Leeds company Crisp, which protects children from paedophiles who trawl the internet, became one of the largest firms of its kind after buying a US-based rival.

The firm completed the acquisition of IMSafer, one of the best-known internet safety brands in the US, for an undisclosed sum.

Crisp's software spots phrases used by adults on the internet who are pretending to be children and then alerts parents by email or text message.

Tuesday

Shares in Britain's biggest mortgage lender, HBOS, closed up 15 per cent, leading a sharp recovery on the London Stock Exchange.

The upturn was in marked contrast to a share price crash a week earlier, which came on the back of unfounded rumours that the bank hadfunding problems.

The recovery was helped by the news that chief executive Andy Hornby and several other directors had bought 1.4 million shares in the bank, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland.

HBOS was the biggest gainer on the day, leading a sharp increase across the banking sector, with Barclays rising seven per cent, Royal Bank of Scotland up nine per cent and Lloyds gaining six per cent.

Skipton Building Society strengthened its position in the financial advice market by buying an 86 per cent shareholding in Torquil Park Holdings.

Torquil Clark, which employs 120 people and is based in Wolverhampton and the Lake District, is the fourth financial advice company within the Skipton group.

David Cutter, group corporate development director of Skipton, said there was "substantial" potential for growing the business, which has £610m of funds under management.

Wednesday

Legoland bosses came under fire following the surprise announcement that the company was withdrawing from the £140m scheme to redevelop Scarborough's North Bay.

A Legoland Discovery Centre had been planned for the town in 2009, but bosses at Merlin Entertainments, which owns Legoland, said they were instead targeting investments in the United States and Europe.

Merlin, which already runs a centre in Berlin, said it was focusing on two new US sites – in Chicago and New Jersey – and at least one more in a major city in mainland Europe.

Scarborough Council chief executive Jim Dillon said he was "very disappointed", but added that the council would keep working closely with developers Benchmark to ensure the planned Sands Project development was a success.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's defied its critics with better-than-expected sales for the 12 weeks up to March 22.

Sainsbury's reported a 4.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the period, well above a forecast range of 3.2 per cent to 3.8 per
cent growth.

Non-food sales grew three times faster than food sales, with strong sellers including clothing and flat-screen televisions.

Thursday

Shares in Northern Foods shot up after the company announced that annual profits would beat expectations, with no sign of a consumer slowdown.

The Leeds-based group, which makes ready meals and sandwiches for big high street names, said that pre-tax profits
for the 12 months to March 29 should be comfortably ahead of average market forecasts.

The range of forecasts is from £45m to £52.3m and the group made a profit of £40m in 2007.

Chief executive Stefan Barden said the company had managed to pass on rising commodity prices to customers.

Equitable Life moved a step closer to a possible sale after announcing it would be prepared to listen to approaches for
the business.

The mutual life insurer said 2008 was likely to be a "key year" in deciding its long-term future, following the £1.7bn transfer of
its with-profits annuity book to Prudential.

The group declined to name the companies with whom it was planning to hold talks, but Pearl were rumoured to be in the frame.

Friday

British Airways suffered share price misery in the wake of the high-profile problems hitting the opening of Heathrow's Terminal Five.

After cancelled flights and a suspension of all baggage check-in at the £4.3bn terminal, shares in BA fell by three per cent, to 240p.

BA's decline dragged the wider FTSE into the red, despite support from mining firms on higher copper prices.

Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe said that 2009 would be a "turning point for the company" as the club announced a pre-tax loss of £420,000 in the six months to December 31.

Turnover at Bramall Lane fell from £25.9m to £17.1m after TV revenues were slashed following the club's relegation from the Premiership.

The club has set its sights on promotion to the Premier League on the field and profitability off it, with a four-star hotel due to open for business at Bramall Lane in October.

Mr McCabe said the club wanted to expand the stadium and also had plans to open two or three health clubs in the next few years.