MFI directors step down: TWO senior directors at MFI yesterday paid the price for a profits slump and supply chain problems that left the retailer struggling to deliver orders. Head of supply Gordon MacDonald and finance director Martin Clifford-King resigned less than a week after MFI warned of a fall in second-half profits. Problems at the UK retail operation centred on a new supply chain introduced earlier this year to simplify deliveries. Technical problems led to customers being offered compensation for delayed deliveries, while costs rose as engineers battled to put the system right.

Boardroom change: Women in business are increasing their presence in the boardroom and commanding bigger salary increases than their male counterparts, a survey has revealed. The number of female directors has risen to one in seven, up from one in ten five years ago, according to a survey jointly carried out by the Chartered Management Institute and Remuneration Economics. There has been a huge rise in the number of women managers since the survey began 30 years ago.

Clothes line: Supermarket chain Sainsbury's has launched a clothing line in a bid to claw back business from its rivals. The company has spent a year developing the Tu label. The range will replace the line designed by Jeff Banks. Mr Banks was hired by Sainsbury's in August 2000, but the two fell out earlier this year. The chain is keen to take a share of the booming clothing and accessories market in supermarkets, led by rivals Asda and Tesco.

MGM deal: Japanese electronics company Sony is to buy Hollywood studio MGM for nearly £1.7bn. The deal marks the last chapter in the history of two of Hollywood's most famous names - Metro Goldwyn Mayer, once best known for musical hits such as Singing in the Rain, and its subsidiary, United Artists, the studio founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and DW Griffith.

Price fall: There is a significant probability that house prices will fall at some stage, a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee warned last night. Stephen Nickell said the ratio of house prices to earnings was well above its average level over the past 20 years