Shares in Frasers Group dropped more than 3 per cent in early trading as investors digested both its results and the news that Mike Ashley will hand over the reins of the business to his prospective son-in-law.

Shares in the FTSE 250 company have now bounced back a little but are still down around 0.9 per cent to 609.70p.

They have more than doubled since a year ago.

John Lewis, Pret A Manger and The Body Shop have been 'named and shamed' by the Government for failing to pay their staff the minimum wage.

The Business Department today publishes a list of 191 companies which have underpaid workers, including some household names.

In total, the list of breaches between 2011 and 2018 resulted in firms paying back £2.1million to more than 34,000 workers. They were also hit with fines of £3.2million.

John Lewis, Pret A Manger and The Body Shop have been 'named and shamed' by the Government for failing to pay their staff the minimum wage.

The Business Department today publishes a list of 191 companies which have underpaid workers, including some household names.

In total, the list of breaches between 2011 and 2018 resulted in firms paying back £2.1million to more than 34,000 workers. They were also hit with fines of £3.2million.

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I was all up for eating out to help out last August - even though I never went for Rishi's discount dishes. 

As a devotee of the restaurant and pub, I’ve never needed any persuading to go out for a meal, and so during the last inter-lockdown period we headed off gladly to a couple of our favourite haunts.

Both were disappointing in similar ways. 

Our feeling was that the things that had made eating out special – foregoing the hassle of shopping and cooking, the ritual of choosing and ordering, good quality food in a civilised atmosphere, enjoyed at leisure – had each deteriorated in some way.

Drugs firms Pfizer and Flynn have been accused by the UK's competition watchdog of abusing their dominant positions to overcharge the NHS for vital anti-epilepsy drugs.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has provisionally found that Flynn and Covid-19 vaccine-maker Pfizer broke competition law by charging unfairly high prices for phenytoin sodium capsules - sending the cost of the treatment soaring by up to 2,600% in 'overnight price increases'.

It comes after the CMA reassessed the case, following appeals by the two firms over an earlier decision in December 2016.

CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said:

Thousands of patients depend on this drug to prevent life-threatening seizures as a result of their epilepsy.

As the CAT (Competition Appeals Tribunal) recognised, this is a matter that is important for Government, for the public as patients and taxpayers, and for the pharmaceutical industry itself.

Protecting these patients, the NHS and the taxpayers who fund it is our priority.

Billionaire Mike Ashley has confirmed he is stepping down from Sports Direct and handing over the reins to his son-in-law. 

Ashley, 56, chief executive of parent company Frasers Group, is going to remain on the board as an executive director. 

His successor will be Michael Murray, who is engaged to be married to Ashley's daughter Anna and who recently vowed to 'rip up' what Ashley had done in the 30 years since he founded the company. 

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Good morning. The FTSE 100 has started the day in the red, weighed down by bank stocks, as investors await the Bank of England's rate setting meeting today at midday.

The FTSE 100 is currently down 0.1 per cent to 7,117, while the FTSE 250 is more or less flat at 23,344.