let's talk to our business correspondent emma simpson whojoins us live business correspondent emma simpsonfurther 1300 staff going and that is another hammer blow, isn't it? it is. it is nearly a month since the collapse of wilco and now we have the first store closures. to do, to close by the end of next week. staff will be informed tomorrow, there affected, then the locations will be published. these are stores that the administrators pwc say that none of the potential buyers they are still working with are interested in. so this was sad but necessary. meanwhile, b&m, a rival to wilco, discount retail chain is snapping up 51 stores in a deal worth £13 million, but not the brand, critically, and it is unclear what will happen to the staff in those stores. meanwhile things look very uncertain. the big question is whether wilco as a brand will survive on the high street. that really all hands on a potential rescue deal with the canadian businessman doug putnam, the owner of hmv. at the end of last week it is thought to be edging towards a deal but now it seems that there are issues with sup

emma simpson joins me from the public inquiry in central london. we have been hearing from the solicitor who acted for the post office in the civil case against lee as the inquiry starts to zoom in on the pursuit of former sub—postmaster is. he was asked if he had anything to say to lee castleton. no, there isn't, he replied. he was asked if he bears any responsibility to what happened to lee castleton in the conduct of his case. he said he and his firm was satisfied they acted professionally, appropriately and politely at all times, and he also denied saying the post office would ruin lee. it does not sound like the language i would use, it makes me sound like a vinniejones character from a gangsterfilm, he said. but he acknowledged in pursuing lee castleton, the post office was showing they wanted to defend the horizon computer system being rolled out across all of the branches. his one regret he said, that they were unable to settle the case. he continues to give evidence this afternoon. tn continues to give evidence this afternoon-— continues t

emma simpson, bbc news.tments and operations in england have been cancelled because of strikes. nhs providers, which represents health service managers, has described the milestone as "damaging and demoralising" and warned that resources are likely to be severely stretched as winter approaches. the start of the university year is being disrupted as staff at more than 40 universities go on strike. it's part of a long running dispute about pay and conditions and coincides with freshers' week for many first year students. our correspondent tim muffett is at queen mary, university of london. tim. yes, good afternoon, jane. for many students _ tim. yes, good afternoon, jane. for many students beginning _ tim. yes, good afternoon, jane. for many students beginning student i many students beginning student life, the first thing they will see will be this. a picket line at 36 university sites. five days of industrial action begins today. at 11 other sites, between one and three days of strikes began. many students h

emma simpson, bbc news. announce tomorrow that it's to intervene in the running of birmingham city council. the local authority effectively declared bankruptcy earlier this month, saying it couldn't afford to settle an unequal pay claim of around three quarters of a billion pounds. it's thought commissioners could be sent in to run some of the council's operations. spare a thought for many living in devon and somerset, now beginning the clean up, after a weekend where flash floods turned gardens into swimming pools, and living rooms into mudbaths. the flooding was the result of torrential rain and thunderstorms. the butlins holiday resort in minehead had to close, as did exeter airport, which has now re—opened. janice jansen, has more from the village of harburton, in devon. mud, hideous mud. the big clean—up is under way. here in the village of halberton in devon, 20 homes were flooded. betty baldwin's house was the worst affected. just woke up in the night to hear an awful lot of water, like the sea. and i

emma simpson, bbc news, central london.— and he did it in both french and english. he called for france and the uk to work together to protect the world from climate change. he was later taken with the queen to notre dame catherdral — to see the work being done to restore it after the fire. from paris here's our royal correspodent daniela relph. a king making history. today, charles iii became the first british monarch to address both houses of the french parliament from the senate chamber. he speaks french. in french and in english, he spoke of a shared vision, describing events in ukraine as horrifying, and stressed the power of governments working together to fight climate change. just as we stand together against military aggression, so must we strive together to protect the world from our most existential challenge of all, that of global warming, climate change and the catastrophic destruction of nature. there was a standing ovation for a king here to revitalise the entente cordiale. there's been an ease and informalit

emma simpson reports.usiness that's growing fast. the boss says it's added nearly a million new customers in the last 12 months. i think the cost—of—living crisis has fundamentally changed the way the british public shop. and first of all, customers are shopping around. so when it comes to grocery, shoppers are reappraising value like never before. and one of the big stories in the supermarket aisles is the rise of own label products. in 2013, own label made up 48% of all the groceries bought in supermarkets. now it's more than half. a small percentage change, but it's the equivalent of a £3 billion a year shift in sales away from brands. the trends accelerated in these tougher economic times. branded products are a really big part of british life. we like brands and we like to buy them when we can. so shoppers are interested in buying them, but they need to be able to buy them at the right price. like these shoppers. this is on offer. only if it's on offer. yes, yes. if it goes up, then no. everyone wants

emma simpson has more. in woking and it's got ambitions for another 500. a business that's growing fast. the boss says it's added nearly a million new customers in the last 12 months. i think the cost—of—living crisis has fundamentally changed the way the british public shop. and first of all, customers are shopping around. so when it comes to grocery, shoppers are reappraising value like never before. and one of the big stories in the supermarket aisles is the rise of own label products. in 2013, own label made up 48% of all the groceries bought in supermarkets. now it's more than half. a small percentage change, but it's the equivalent of a £3 billion a year shift in sales away from brands. the trends accelerated in these tougher economic times. branded products are a really big part of british life. we like brands and we like to buy them when we can. so shoppers are interested in buying them, but they need to be able to buy them at the right price. like these shoppers. this is on offer. only if it's on o

emma simpson reports.here, the final hours of wilko in barking, not much left to sell. i got two set of these ones. you getting the bargains? yeah, 40% off. i've been coming here since i was little. so it is quite devastating, really. the fact that it is going. but what can you say? it's the end of an era. and then, there is the staff. we can't talk to any of them as they've been advised not to speak whilst the business is being wound down. this shop has been going for nearly 30 years. like many high streets, there are already some boarded—up shops around here. wilko's demise is another blow. especially for the owner of this new shop next door. one by one, all the big chains are closing down. three years or four years before, they closed peacock, now closing wilko. and these people, they bring the customer in the market. if these people are closing down, this area is going to be dead. but some of the gaps are set to be filled. wilko has 400 stores. b&m is buying up to 51 of them and poundland is taking on

emma simpson. emma, just explain a bit more about this deal. how significant is it?about the shops not the brand. i think what this is about as he and i am seizing the opportunity to expand its existing chain. there is no news about any job is to be saved and there are a number of other retailers trying to snap up stores. the real question is now where wilko can be saved as a business on the high street. the only hope for that is a potential rescue deal with the canadian businessman who is the owner of hmv. he has tabled a bid to save up to 300 of the stores. at the end of last week he was edging towards a deal. this has now stalled we understand. it has been a complicated thing to piece together. he is grappling with issues with suppliers and trying to finalise funding and get landlords on side. it has all got to come together. what this deal with b and m does is at least inject some much—needed cash into the business and to recover some value for creditors as the administrators continue to trade the administrators continue to trade the business and tried to secure

. > mr hurley's been talking to our business correspondent emma simpson, and she began by asking himtill so high. in the last six months food inflation has been coming down. but it is still tremendously challenging for customers out there, and i think more than ever that's forcing customers to reappraise their grocery habits. you're pulling more shoppers in, but will they stick with you when this cost of living crisis is over? i think the cost of living crisis has fundamentally changed how the british public shop. and first of all, customers are shopping around. so, when it comes to grocery, shoppers are reappraising value like never before. with our low prices we have universal appeal. as a result we have welcomed almost a million new customers into our stores in the last 12 months. but the store is notjust about shopping around. customers are behaving really differently in stores. so, own label sales have grown substantially in the last two years and now account for more than 50% of grocery sales. and if you looked at volume... across the uk? exactly. and if you looked at a volume

emma simpson has more. sub—postmaster noel thomas, on his way to prison in 2006. conviction for false accounting, finally quashed. only now is he getting his life back. he has had an interim payment or compensation, but will he be tempted by the government's offer of £600,000 in total to bring this all to a close? i wouldn't say it's not enough, but i still say that people have gone through a hell of a lot in this time. as i said, i've gone through a hell of a lot in 17 years. no money will repay what we have lost. the post office minister told me he agrees, but says the government wants to offer noel and the other victims a new option. you can civilly take a fixed sum that will compensate you for what you have been through, and that fixed sum will be £600,000, completely net of tax, legal costs are covered on top of that. so people who have had a conviction that has been overturned can go down that route and to take £600,000 off the table as soon as this process is open. i think it is fair in terms of what we are seeing in terms of general numbers of claims comin

our business correspondent emma simpson spoke to him at his home, near scarborough.the post office soon ruined the life of lee castleton and his family. my wife and i, and my two children, we bought a post office in 2003 in bridlington, on the harbour top. we thought it was life—changing, we thought it was something that we would do for the rest of our working lives, and nine months later, it just completely changed, it was absolutely terrible. i was accused of losing £25,000, and that led onto a litigation by post office and eventually bankruptcy. right from the start, he refused to accept he was to blame. now the public inquiry is looking at his case. how big a moment is it going to be hearing your story and these witnesses? it's something that i never, ever dreamed that we'd see. there's a lot of flooding of emotion going on, and i can't wait, really. the only thing that i'm looking for is some accountability, somebody to actually say, "yeah, you know, that was bad, "that really was bad. "we shouldn't have done that." do you feel they wanted to make an example of

mr hurley's been talking to our business correspondent emma simpson, and she asked him why food prices been coming down, but it is still tremendously challenging for customers out there. and i think more than ever, that's forcing customers to reappraise their grocery habits. you are pulling more shoppers in, but are they going to stick with you when this cost—of—living crisis is over? i think the cost of living crisis has fundamentally changed the way the british public shop. first of all, customers are shopping around. so when it comes to grocery, shoppers are reappraising value like never before. and with our low prices, we've got universal appeal. as a result, we have welcomed almost a million new customers into our stories in the last 12 months. but this story is notjust about shopping around. customers are also behaving very differently in store. so own—label sales have grown substantially in the last two years. they now account for more than 50% of grocery sales. and if you look at a volume... across the uk? exactly. and if you look at volume, that figure would be even higher. a

our business correspondent emma simpson is with me. a lot of uncertainy still.gh street. that hangs on a potential business deal with a canadian businessman, the owner of hmv. that was edging towards a deal by the end of last week, but that is now hanging in the balance because there are issues with suppliers, you need on board to get the stock on the shelves, and finalising the funding, so a lot of moving parts have to come together there, although the administrative as are understood to want to give out as much time as it needs to see if it can get across the line. meanwhile, as you say, the first shop closures. these are stores that none of the potential buyers that the administrative is talking to are interested, so very sad but necessary, the administrators say that they have to go. there's also a wave of redundancies at the distribution centres, and b&m picked up distribution centres, and b&m picked up a big parcel of stores today, but not the brand, and it is unclear whether any of those workers will be kept on. whether any of those workers will be ke -t

emma simpson has more. sub—postmaster noel thomas, on his way to prison in 2006.ths behind bars. two years ago, his conviction forfalse behind bars. two years ago, his conviction for false accounting, finally quashed. 0nly conviction for false accounting, finally quashed. only now is he getting his life back. he has had an interim payment or compensation, but will he be tempted by the government's offer of £600,000 in total to bring this all to a close? i wouldn't say it's not enough, but i wouldn't say it's not enough, but i still say that people have gone through a hell of a lot in this time. as i said, i've gone through a hell of a lot in 17 years. no money will repay what we have lost. the ost will repay what we have lost. the post office _ will repay what we have lost. the post office minister told me he agrees, but says the government wants to offer noel and the other victims a new option. you wants to offer noel and the other victims a new option.— victims a new option. you can civilly take — victims a new option. you can civilly take a _ victims a new opti