Frozen Crisps

Iceland have expanded bagged snacks McCoys from crisps into frozen potato ridges. The products are exclusive to Iceland and are priced at £1.50 and Iceland bosses hope the new innovations into frozen foods will give shoppers different reasons to visit the store.

Frozen Crisps

Chocolate Winter Wonderland

It isn't even October yet but signs of the festive season are already beginning to appear. Cadburys are continuing to innovate in the chocolate market and have released a limited edition winter wonderland bar with tree shaped white and milk slices. 

7 Day Switch

Around 35,000 British consumers moved their current accounts during the first week of a new industry switching regime aimed at promoting greater competition in the banking sector. Have the reduction of the barriers to entry now made this market more contestable? Great story for A2 Unit 3 Economics.

Customers Switch Banks

Egypt Holiday Demand Slump

UK tour operators say the recent violence across large parts of Egypt has taken its toll on demand for holidays in the country. Some classic economic theory behind this story but could you draw the demand graph for it?

Egypt Holiday Slump

$1bn Beats

When Beats first entered the market rivals did not think the company had a chance of getting music lovers to pay more than £250 for headphones. Beats accounted for 64% of headphones selling for more than $100 in the US in 2012 and now Dr Dre is set to sell his share in the business for a cool $250m which means the company would be valued at a huge $1bn. 

$1bn Beats

Made of More

Guinness are well renowned for their unique and brilliant advertising throughout the years & their latest advert has had created quite a storm racking up 3 Million YouTube hits in just four days. The heartwarming advert has become a viral hit & another for Guinness to add to their famous collection.

Guinness Advert

£100,000 Watch

George Daniels was considered by many to be the finest watchmaker - or horologist - in the world. When he passed away his legacy was continued by Rodger Smith who started his studio in 2001 and produces by hand ten watches a year. Each of the watches take six months to make and prices start at around £95,000. What business topics can you see in this story?

Hand Made Watch

Chunky vs Curvy

Some chocolate lovers say Dairy Milk tastes different since its shape was changed but Cadbury insists the recipe is the same. So can the shape of chocolate change its taste? Well according to the science people it certainly can so will this mean the new shape Cadburys wont be around for long?

New Shape New Taste

Apple Too Cool

Apple has retained the spot for this year's CoolBrands list, beating automotive brand Aston Martin in second place as premium fashion brands see a resurgence. Check out the rest of the brands that were cool enough to make the list by following the link.

CoolBrands 2013

Low Fat Chips

Burger King have launched lower-fat chips called Satisfries as pressure begins to mount in the US for food firms to help tackle obesity. They contain 40% less fat than those sold by McDonalds and will go on sale in the US on Tuesday at a slightly higher price than regular fries. Will this help Burger King & the American wasteline line?

Satisfries

iFool

A fake Apple advert claiming the new iOS 7 software makes iPhones and iPads waterproof has apparently fooled some users into destroying their devices. The power of marketing or just some very gullible users?

iPhone Users Fooled

Jelly Belly Shaken Up

Jelly Belly is expanding its product range to now offer flavoured milk shakes and ready to eat jellies. Using the unique flavours found by Jelly Belly they hope to be able to take some of the milkshake market which is estimated to be worth £118.9m and has grown by over 9% in the last year.

Jelly Belly Milkshakes

Blackberry to Cut 4,500 Jobs

Blackberry has announced it is planning to cut 4,500 jobs, or 40% of its worldwide workforce, in attempt to staunch huge losses of as much as £621m when it reports its second-quarter earnings next week. The company said the losses were primarily down to the disappointing sales of its Z10 model smartphone.

Blackberry Hits Rocks

iPhone 5s Shortage

The new iPhone models have gone on sale, with eager shoppers - many of whom had camped out - flooding into Apple's flagship stores. But hundreds of people took to Twitter to say that many of the stores had ran out of the new devices. Phones then began appearing on eBay for as much as £2,000 as Apple pushed back its dispatch date for new phones to October.

5s Shortage

Dunk & Crunch

Tetley is expanding its product range with a 'Dunk & Crunch' biscuit which has been perfectly designed to complement a cuppa. The biscuit is said to absorb the optimum amount of tea when dunked but still retain a good crunch. Why would Tetley decide to release a biscuit product?

Tetley Biscuit

Tesco Tablet

Tesco will unveil a new device - expected to be a low-priced own-brand entry into the tablet market - on 23 September. Would you buy a Tesco branded tablet? Is the market already too crowded for Tesco to enter?

Tesco Tablet

Plastic Bag Tax

A 5p charge for plastic bags in England is to be introduced by the government in a bid to discourage their use. The charge, which will only apply to supermarkets and larger stores, will begin after the 2015 election, with the proceeds going to charities. Will the 5p tax be enough to discourage use? What other methods could be used to solve the market failure?

Plastic Bag Tax

GTA V Set To Smash Sales Records

Grand Theft Auto V, one of the most eagerly-anticipated video game releases of the year is expected to smash sales records after going on sale worldwide today. The game reportedly cost around £170 million to make and market and retails at £35 but with such high demand for the game online seller Amazon has already sold out and copies have started appearing on eBay for in excess of £90. Experts predict the game could generate £1 Billion in its first year on sale.

GTA Smashes Sales Record

Satchel Success

Julie Dean started the Cambridge Satchel Company to raise money to send her daughter to another school. She started the company with £600 and just four years later it is now generating an annual turnover of more than £12 million, employs 84 staff and has celebrity fans such as Alexa Chung & Fearne Cotton.  What makes this person enterprising?

Enterprise Satchel

Currys Revamping Stores

Curry's and PC World shops have undergone a significant redesign in an attempt to draw more customers to their high street stores. But with more products being bought online, will the move entice shoppers away from the virtual world? Follow the link to take a tour round the new store.

Currys Store 

Dunkin' Donuts Are Back

Dunkin' Donuts plans UK return after 20 years. The US chain, has launched a second attempt to expand in Britain with a deal to open 50 restaurants in London over the next five years. Will they be able to compete in this highly competitive market?

Slam Dunkin' Donuts

Twitter Plans Stock Market Listing

Twitter says it plans to join the stock market in the most hotly anticipated flotation since Facebook's last year. Investors value Twitter, founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, at more tha $10bn (£6.3bn).

Twitter Float

New iPhone Unveiled

Apple has revamped the iPhone by launching two new handsets at is California headquarters - one colourful budget version called the iPhone 5C and a state of the art handset which includes a fingerprint reader called the iPhone 5S. Will this help them win over the Chinese market and be a global success?

New iPhone Launch

Tescopoly

How did Tesco come to dominate the British high-street? It all started with a barrow selling fish paste and is now visited by millions with more than 330,000 employees working in 3,146 stores and pre-tax profits in the billions. Follow the story of how it all began by following the link.

Tesco Dominate Market

Lucozade Goes Strawberry

News of the launch of Strawberry Lucozade broke just as it was revealed that Japanese drinks giant Suntory has acquired both Lucozade & Ribena from GSK in a deal worth £1.35bn. The strawberry flavour will go on sale next week with another new limited edition of Melonade to follow soon!

Lucozade Lines Up Strawberry

UK's Most Surprising Salaries

The average UK salary is £26,462 but as you might imagine, there are plenty of jobs which pay considerably more and a lot less than that. Think you know which roles bring in the big bucks? You might be surprised. 

Surprising Salaries

The GreggsNut

Greggs launches their own version of a 'Cronut', the Greggsnut. The bakers say the launch is the most exciting thing since the birth of the sausage roll. The croissant-doughnut hybrid that took New York's bakers and bellies by storm is set to hit Greggs shelves. Will it be a hit for the UK?

Greggs Launches GreggsNut

22nd November 2013

The battle of the consoles is well & truly hotting up as Xbox Vice President Yusuf Mehdi confirmed the Xbox One will be released in 13 countries on the 22nd November 2013 which is exactly 8 years since the Xbox 360 launch date. There is clearly demand for the new console as Xbox confirmed they have sold out of their pre-order supply & are having to increase production in order to meet the demand. With the PS4 release not scheduled till a week later which console will come out on top?

Galaxy Gear

Samsung has unveiled a smart-watch with a colour screen that can show alters, be used for voice calls and run run apps. Will having first mover advantage over the likes of Google and Apple give them a market dominance of the smart-watch market?

Galaxy Gear

Microsoft Set To Buy Nokia

Once market leader Nokia is set to be bought out by Microsoft in a deal worth £4.6bn. This is a huge takeover and a bold move for Microsoft as they try and transform itself into a company that is no longer just associated with PC's and software but now also for devices and services. Will this takeover be worth the money?

Microsoft Buys Nokia

Bale Business Breakdown

An interesting look at the breakdown of the world's most expensive player. Read why it is so much by following the link and seeing the viewpoints. Dr Peter Dawson sums it up perfectly in terms of Economics.

Bale Business

Who Would Go See 1D 'This Is Us'?

As the 1D film hit the US Box Office at the weekend it is clear to see the effective market segmentation that is in action. "This Is Us" attracted as expected huge numbers to the cinemas of which 87% were female and 65% were under the age of 17. The film grossed $15.8 Million in its first three days in the USA which was not quite as impressive as Bieber who's 2011 documentary film took $29.5 million.

Soups You Sir

Heinz are set to launch a premium soup range backed with a £1.4m marketing campaign. Jack Wallace, Heinz Classics marketing manager, said: "We wanted to create a range of soups that would really appeal to upmarket and younger consumer, who want the soup they know & love, but with an exciting twist - something a bit special."

Premium Soup

The Undercover Economist

Tim Harford's first book was a global bestseller and has gone on to sell well over a million copies worldwide. Now, in a world utterly transformed by the global downturn The Undercover Economist Strikes Back to help you unpick and understand the complexities of major economies. An excellent read for A-Level Economists!

Undercover Economist

Maslow Motivation

The psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation is 70 years old but continues to have a strong influence on the world of business & is a classic topic taught across schools. So what is it, and is it right? Find out more by reading up on this fantastic article from the BBC. 

Maslow Motivation