Chemicals firm Roche and beer giant Interbrew were fined a combined £140 million by the European Commission last week for price-fixing and anti-competitive activity. Roche was penalised for its role in a cartel that colluded in the price of citric acid in the early 1990s, which also involved US food firm Archer Daniels Midland.

Sir Peter Bonfield, chief executive of BT, has warned the government to stop meddling in its business after chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown said he wanted to cut the cost of using the Internet.

Many small companies can see no benefit in the UK adopting the euro, a new report has disclosed. The 2001 Reuters Survey found that 58 per cent of the 296 companies questioned thought they would not benefit from the UK joining the euro. About 73 per cent said sales would stay the same if the UK joined and 65 per cent believed profits would remain unchanged.

The Better Payment Practice Group (BPPG) has devised a 12-step collection process for small to medium-sized enterprises to avoid late payment. The guidance is a response to a study of more than 1,000 firms by the Credit Management Research Centre. It found that less than half of invoices for businesses in manufacturing, wholesale and financial services are paid on time.