THE DAILY BRIEFING

■ SHARES SWOOP The girlfriend of Mothercare chief executive Mark Newton- Jones has snapped up £50,000 of shares in the troubled retailer. Camilla McGregor bought 201,305 shares at 24.6p each. ■ STAKE SALE Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers has bought a minority stake in restaurant group 3Sixty Restaurants from serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson.

■ LOSSES MOUNT Losses at French bakery chain Paul widened to £919,779 last year despite a 2.4pc rise in sales in the year to December 31. The losses compare with £95,053 a year earlier.

■ STEEL RESOLVE The owners of rescued British Steel say they are looking for other assets to buy to bulk up the company. Greybull Capital has shown interest in buying steel mills in the Czech Republic and Romania. ■ METER DEAL AIM-listed smart meter installer Smart Metering Systems has signed a deal with renewable energy supplier Good Energy to install meters. ■ SUNNY DIVIDEND Solar power investment fund Foresight Solar said the recent heatwave boosted its electricity production to 260GWh, enough to power 84,000 homes.

■ WOMEN ACTION US private equity group TA Associates, which owns clothes brand Zadig & Voltaire, has partnered with an organisation which helps more women get on company boards. TA has said it will use Athena Alliance’s network to put female leaders into the top ranks of its portfolio companies.

■ WHISKY BID Plans have been announced to open a whisky distillery in Northumberland in the market town of Wooler. The Ad Gefrin distillery could become a tourist attraction and employ 50 people.

■ REVENUE UP US retailer Target has benefited from back-to-school shopping sprees and a sale meant to rival Amazon’s Prime Day last month. Online sales grew 41pc, helped by promotions surrounding Amazon’s Prime Day. Total revenue rose 6.9pc (£13.8bn), while net earnings jumped 10.2pc to £619m.

■ SALES RISE Chinese electronics and smartphone maker Xiaomi reported a whopping 68pc jump in sales in the second quarter in its first results since it floated on the Hong Kong stock exchange in July. Total revenues were £5.1bn.