Inflation fell last month as shoppers benefited from bargains on the High Street, figures showed yesterday. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed underlying inflation in December fell to 2.7 per cent against 2.8 per cent the previous month - and below city expectations. The ONS said this was due to changes in food and clothing prices. On the High Street, clothing and footwear prices fell and special offers were more widespread than a year ago.

export joy: A North-East firm is branching out in North America thanks to a Government-backed scheme. Cathedral Garden Furniture, of Hetton-le-Hole, on Wearside, signed up to the Passport programme, run by Trade Partners UK, in a bid to sell more across the Atlantic. It received training on effective exhibiting in the US and took part in a trade show there. Managing director Frank Middleton said it had now signed up firms in the US and Canada to promote and supply its products.

Alum jobs go: Alcoa is closing its aluminium products plant in Swansea, south Wales, axing 120 workers in the face of rising competition from imports. The move was immediately condemned by union leaders who claimed a British plant had been chosen because closure costs here are far lower.

BOSS OUSTED: Beleaguered Cable & Wireless shareholders got their wish yesterday after it emerged that under-fire boss Graham Wallace is to leave the company. The telecoms group has been under pressure to recruit a new chief executive for several months after axing thousands of jobs and seeing the company slide out of the prestigious FTSE 100 Index.

pension POT: The majority of MPs support compulsory pension contributions as the most popular choice for addressing the pensions saving gap. In a survey by insurance group Axa, 78 per cent said they favoured compulsory employer contributions and 73 per cent compulsory employee contributions.

PHONE DIRECTOR: Mobile telephone network operator mm02 today announced the appointment of David Chance as a non-executive director. The 45-year-old was deputy managing director of BSkyB until June 1998 and holds non-executive directorships at Granada Media, Modern Times Group and Sunderland AFC.