Bamford backs off.

The chairman of digger firm JCB yesterday appeared to have given up on buying British car manufacturer Jaguar from the Ford Motor Company.

Sir Anthony Bamford said he would not be pursuing his interest, as any sale would also involve Ford's Land Rover operation. He said: "I am not interested in buying the two together and am therefore not getting involved."

Barbie fights back

SALES of Barbie dolls and a Sesame Street toy have boosted toymaker Mattel's third-quarter profit. The US toymaker has reported a better-than-expected net income of pounds 128m, up 6.1% on the same time last year.

Team expands

A SURGE in new clients has led to the growth of the Family Law team at a Carlisle solicitors' practice. Stephen Cox, 27, joins Burnetts from Camden family law specialists, Hodge, Jones and Allen where he worked on family cases involving injunctions, restraining orders, divorce and separation in liaison with the Domestic Violence Forum in Kentish Town.

Japanese trips

SPECIALIST engineers from the North-East Productivity Alliance programme are to visit Honda, Nissan and Toyota as well key suppliers to learn more about their manufacturing techniques and models of best practice, and to see first hand how the Japanese market works. On a separate trip, One NorthEast, County Durham Development Company (CDDC) and the region's universities will showcase the region's world-class research strengths to senior scientists from Japanese companies, and highlight the acclaimed work of NETPark, the science and technology park.