1. No languages lose orders

ONE in four firms has lost business contracts because their staff cannot speak a foreign language, according to a new report today.

2. Bosses have no idea of debts

ALMOST one in five owners of small firms have no idea how much money their business owes, according to new research today.

3. New mortgages at lowest level for 12½ years

THE number of new mortgages approved for people buying a house dived to its lowest level for 12-and-a-half years during December, according to latest figures.

4. Teenager killed in collision

5. Designer classics

IN A world of interior indulgence and extravagance, those wishing to take themselves back to basics may have found a home.

6. New base opened by finance firm

FINANCE systems specialist CODA has opened a new office and training facility in Caversham.

7. Card cash helps cancer fight

A FIRM in Reading found a better way to spend its Christmas card cash this year.

8. Asian arm swells Pru sales by 16%

INSURANCE giant Prudential, with offices in Reading, highlighted the strength of trading in Asia after the fast-growing division boosted new business figures for 2007.

9. Hanging around this half-term?

Deep in the Bracknell forest, you can banish those winter blues by going for a swing through the trees.

10. ‘It sounds like a Guy Ritchie film mixed with Shakespeare’

Rehearsals haven’t yet begun, but soon South Hill Park will receive the premiere of an intense and dramatic Steven Berkoff play based on a classic Greek tragedy. Will it be all right on the night?