Barbour had a record year in which sales rose more than 30 per cent and many items sold out before Christmas.

New ranges have struck a chord with customers obsessed with British brands amid a flurry of Royal celebrations.

However, group finance director Brenda Readman-Bell said the company had to deal with a ‘massive’ escalation in the number of counterfeit products available on the internet.

Barbour sends out about 25 legal warnings a day to counterfeiters, internet service providers and rogue websites compared with ‘one or two a day’ 12 months ago.

Barbour employs 700 staff, including 120 machinists in its South Shields factory, where the jackets are made, and is concerned that poor-quality copies from sites set up in countries such as Bermuda and Nigeria could damage the business.

Nails Inc, the nail bar and polish brand, is set to cash in on booming demand for manicures by expanding on to the Continent and the Middle East.

The company founded by former Tatler journalist Thea Green enjoyed like-for-like sales up 19 per cent in the five weeks to December 31.

Total sales rose by 39 per cent to £10.6million in the six months to the end of December while profits rose to more than £1.5million, the same amount achieved for the whole of 2010.

Green said: ‘Nail polish has been enjoying the most amazing boom time over the past couple of years.’

Last year the brand’s nail polish was launched in America and Canada. The company is in talks with distributors for the Middle East, Japan and Australia.

>> Click here to read Thea’s exclusive advice to women starting their own business

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When MP Tim Loughton bought a warranty to make sure that any repairs to his wife’s VW Golf would be covered, he believed he was doing the right thing.

Provider Warranty Direct boasted in its literature: ‘Take out our policy and you can be absolutely certain that we will be doing everything in our power to deliver complete satisfaction.’

But the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham is not impressed. For nine months he has been trying to get an explanation from Warranty and Cardif Pinnacle, the policy’s underwriter, as to why only £733 of a £2,153 repair bill has been met. His case has now gone to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The MP’s problems started last May when his wife, Elizabeth, heard an unusual noise from the car’s engine. The Golf was driven twice more before being booked into a garage near their home in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.

The garage said the flywheel was defective, which in turn had damaged the gearbox. Although both were replaced, Warranty Direct would meet only part of the claim, saying Elizabeth should have realised there was a problem with the car earlier and that the gearbox damage could have been avoided if she had stopped driving sooner. Warranty Direct would also not cover all the labour costs because it said the garage had taken too long to do the repairs.

And Loughton, 49, says the garage gave Warranty a ten per cent discount for the work it had agreed to pay for – but didn’t offer him a similar discount.

‘There appears to be a cosy little arrangement between Warranty, the garages they use and the assessors they employ,’ he says.

Warranty refused to change its position while Cardif Pinnacle failed to respond to the complaint within eight weeks, resulting in his claim to the Ombudsman.

From ‘sympathetic’ enquiries about car accidents to concern that you may have been missold an insurance policy, text spammers – mass senders of unsolicited texts – come in many guises. But from this month they face fines of up to £500,000 as the authorities attempt to clamp down on a fast-growing problem.

One survey found that an astonishing 20 million mobile phone users had received messages such as: ‘Free Msg: Important! Records indicate you are entitled to £3,700 from Mis-Sold Loan Insurance (PPI). To claim reply YES to this message. Thank you.’ Many recipients of this message have never taken out loan insurance.

This is text-spamming – hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users are sent texts promising help with insurance claims or pensions services. They are unsolicited and have been sent without the consent of the recipient – and those responsible can rarely be identified.

The aim is to get a response of any kind. Even a STOP texted back to the sender shows that the mobile number is ‘live’ and is therefore a potential channel of communication. Sending such texts can be a lucrative business – a lead generated by text can be sold for £5 to a claims management firm, which in turn can sell it for £300 to claims solicitors, says the Direct Marketing Association, whose members use texting to market services legitimately. A survey by Royal Bank of Scotators land showed that 11 per cent of all accident claims came from text spamming.

But from this month, the Information Commissioner’s Office has the power to fine organisations that send texts to consumers who did not agree to receive them.

Simon Entwisle, director of operations at the ICO, said: ‘We believe there has been a huge increase towards the end of last year in sending texts to randomly generated numbers.’

In its own survey it quoted several victims of text spamming. One said: ‘The text was sent to my 11-year-old son and to at least two of his school friends. I texted back STOP and received a further text instantly. It’s hard to imagine that there is nothing sinister going on when these messages are received.’

Another said: ‘I was bombarded daily with these after texting STOP to one. I then replied CLAIM to find out who was contacting me. The first time I was called by a company that said it would take the details of my accident and forward them to a solicitor. I then asked how they got my details and they hung up.’ Entwisle said the ICO was determined to trace offenders, but faced a difficult task.

‘The spammers are not easy to track down,’ he said. ‘There is a spider’s web of organisations that are linked in this and everyone we talk to says that as far as they are concerned these leads have been obtained legitimately.’ Text spammers often use pay-asyou-go mobile phone SIM cards hooked up to a computer that can handle 300 or so cards to send automated text messages. The spammers buy SIM cards with a minimum top-up of £5 and are able to send up to 20,000 messages per card.

When mobile phone operators spot a pattern of texts from a SIM card, they can close it down. Mobile oper-disconnected about 2,000 text spammers a month last year – but the spammers simply move on to a new card.

However, Entwisle said the ICO was working on a number of cases and hoped to make an announcement soon. He said complaints about such texts tripled in the past couple of years to 1,607 in the 12 months to the end of January and advised anyone receiving one not to reply in any way.

Mark Brill, chairman of the DMA’s mobile marketing council, said he wanted to see rules enforced and offenders penalised.

‘There are some legitimate claims management firms and some rather shady ones. There seems to be very little requirement in the claims management industry that a lead must be obtained legitimately,’ he said.

Brill runs a legitimate text marketing agency and said any supplier of a list of leads that came from text marketing ought to be able to tell consumers exactly where and when they gave their consent to receive marketing texts.

The claims management companies sell their services to solicitors, who are themselves not allowed to make unsolicited approaches to potential clients.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority said the onus was on solicitors to make sure they received business only through scrupulous methods. But it admitted that there were no specific requirements governing what solicitors should ask.

A spokesman said: ‘Solicitors must be satisfied that the introducer is not doing things the solicitor couldn’t do. Claims management companies are not prevented by their own rules from cold calling by phone, but their rules say they can’t put solicitors in breach of our rules.’

The Ministry of Justice oversees the industry via the Claims Management Regulator. It said: ‘Claims management companies are subject to strict rules of conduct, including on marketing.

‘Sending unsolicited text messages for marketing purposes is a clear breach of these rules.

‘We have made it very clear to businesses that we will not accept any malpractice or attempts to take advantage of consumers. Companies should remain in no doubt that if they breach the rules they will face enforcement action that could result in them being closed down.’

Perhaps the spammers themselves will soon be getting an unwelcome intrusion into their own lives.

How to report those spams

ACCIDENT claims, debts and mis-sold payment protection are the top three subjects of text spamming.

Call the Information Commissioner’s Office 0303 123 1113 helpline if you have responded to a spam text and your details have been passed to a claims company.

To contact your mobile operator about spam texts, call customer services or use one of the following numbers:

Orange, O2 and T-Mobile: Forward the text to 7726; Vodafone: Forward the text to 87726; Three: Forward the text to 37726.

Under a new policy of disclosure by Amazon, the supermarket giant has been revealed as the ultimate seller of a range of goods – including DVDs and computer games – marketed on Amazon under the trading name of Oakwood Distribution Ltd. Oakwood is a subsidiary of Tesco.

An investigation by Financial Mail found that the price of numerous items, including a box set of the first BBC series of Downton Abbey and a Super Mario computer game, were far cheaper when sold by Oakwood Distribution on Amazon than through the Tesco website.

For example, Downton Abbey is retailing at £7.43 plus £1.26 delivery, a total of £8.69, on Amazon, but £9.97 on Tesco’s site. The Super Mario 3D Nintendo game costs £29.12 via Oakwood on Amazon and £34.97 from Tesco online.

Tesco has regularly been criticised for squeezing suppliers to push the prices on its shelves to rock bottom levels.

Now it seems Amazon’s demands that retailers do not sell more cheaply anywhere, not even on their own sites, may be turning the tables on the supermarket.

Consumers who believe they are supporting independent businesses may not be pleased to find out they are shopping with Tesco.

Critics have accused Tesco of using a different company name to masquerade as a small business on Amazon, claiming this allows it to slip under the radar of consumers who actively choose not to buy from Tesco.

A spokesman for pressure group Tescopoly said: ‘Tesco has already demonstrated a similar method of operating on the High Street through the One Stop chain of convenience stores.

‘This would appear to be another example of Tesco trying to sell more to consumers who think they are getting an independent choice.’

Tesco said: ‘It is public knowledge that Oakwood is part of Tesco.

‘Where we have excess stock it is sold competitively through third-party marketplaces. Many customers prefer to shop direct with Tesco for additional benefits.’

Consumers can check the identity of sellers through Amazon by using the site’s new Detailed Seller Information button.

Last week, Amazon reported a savage fall in profits from $416 million (£263 million) to $177 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The figure was $800 million below analysts’ expectations, prompting a nine per cent fall in the share price.

How Tesco has been forced to chage less

Who Cares has been launched by the Financial section of the Mail on Sunday to offer advice, help and support to the millions of people in Britain today who are affected by the chronic difficulties of old age, whether they are elderly themselves or helping to care for older relatives and friends.

So many people now find themselves plunged into the confusing world of benefits, entitlements, dementia, care homes and home care. It can be a huge battle for younger relatives and a struggle for anyone since one of the worst aspects of this world is a sense of isolation.

It is hard to know which way to turn.

In a series of articles and blogs, Who Cares will be offering hard facts and straightforward advice to help you find your way through the maelstrom.

We want to create a community that includes you and offers genuine support. This will be a place where you can share your stories and where we will be campaigning to help push all these issues up the agenda..

>>Who Cares wants to hear your questions and concerns, your thoughts and your experiences. You can contact us by posting at the end of any of our articles or blogs, or you can email us direct on whocares@fmwf.com.

For Advice on:

Benefits and Entitlements click here

Home Care click here

Dementia click here

Living and residential care click here

Important Contacts click here

Sarah Whitebloom’s blog click here.

[Press Association] Energy Secretary Chris Huhne from London is to face prosecution over allegations that he asked his ex-wife to take a speeding penalty for him, Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer has announced.

The Liberal Democrat MP has been charged with perverting the course of justice after an investigation into the 2003 incident by Essex Police.

His former wife, the economist Vicky Pryce is also facing charges of perverting the course of justice. They are due to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 16.

The decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to press charges will place enormous pressure on Mr Huhne to quit his ministerial post and his membership of David Cameron’s Cabinet.

He is expected to announce his intentions shortly.

Downing Street has so far declined to say whether Mr Cameron – who on Friday was out of London on a regional visit on – will sack the Energy Secretary and stage a reshuffle.

Mr Starmer said a criminal complaint was made to Essex Police in May 2011, alleging Ms Pryce had accepted responsibility for a speeding offence committed by Mr Huhne in 2003.

“That complaint was investigated by Essex Police and a file was passed to the CPS in late July 2011. The CPS advised that further investigations should be made, including obtaining certain material from a national newspaper,” he said.

“Those further investigations were made and, in October 2011, an order was made for the newspaper to produce material to the police. The newspaper appealed that order, as it was entitled to do, but subsequently consented to producing the material in question just before the appeal was due to be heard, on 20 January this year.

“All the available evidence, including the new material, has now been carefully considered by the CPS and we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce for perverting the course of justice.

“The essence of the charges is that between March and May 2003, Mr Huhne, having allegedly committed a speeding offence, falsely informed the investigating authorities that Ms Pryce had been the driver of the vehicle in question, and she falsely accepted that she was the driver.

“Accordingly, summonses against both Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce have been obtained from Westminster Magistrates’ Court and those summonses will now be served on them. They are due to appear in court on 16 February this year.”

There was no immediate reaction from Downing Street to Mr Starmer’s announcement.

The DPP’s full statement

The Crown Prosecution Service explained how it arrived at the decision to bring charges against Chris Huhneand his former wife Vicky Pryce in a statement today.

It was read by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer, who said: “A criminal complaint was made to Essex Police in May 2011, alleging that Ms Pryce had accepted responsibility for a speeding offence committed by Mr Huhnein 2003.

“That complaint was investigated by Essex Police and a file was passed to the CPS in late July 2011. The CPS advised that further investigations should be made, including obtaining certain material from a national newspaper.

“Those further investigations were made and, in October 2011, an order was made for the newspaper to produce material to the police. The newspaper appealed that order, as it was entitled to do, but subsequently consented to producing the material in question just before the appeal was due to be heard, on January 20 this year.

“All the available evidence, including the new material, has now been carefully considered by the CPS and we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Mr Huhneand Ms Pryce for perverting the course of justice.

“The essence of the charges is that between March and May 2003, Mr Huhne, having allegedly committed a speeding offence, falsely informed the investigating authorities that Ms Pryce had been the driver of the vehicle in question, and she falsely accepted that she was the driver.

“Accordingly, summonses against both Mr Huhneand Ms Pryce have been obtained from Westminster Magistrates’ Court and those summonses will now be served on them. They are due to appear in court on February 16 this year.

“The decision in this case was taken by Mr Rene Barclay, a senior and very experienced prosecutor, in consultation with Sue Hemming, the head of special crime division and in consultation with me as DPP.

“Can I remind all concerned that Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce now stand charged with criminal offences and that they each have a right to a fair trial. It is very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice their trial.”

>> But if it’s celebs you’re after take a look at our Rich Celebrities or Famous Entrepreneurs pages.

>> Or find out about the latest business adventures from savvy fellow Spice Girl Victoria Beckham here.

[Press Association] Former Spice Girl Halliwell has unveiled just the thing for any young Wannabes – a range of Union flag outfits.

The singer – whose appearance in a red, white and blue mini-dress at the Brit Awards in 1997 became an enduring image of Cool Britannia – has created the gear for her latest Next collection.

The 39-year-old showed off dresses, bikinis and tops emblazoned with the flag image.

The chart star, who scored a string of hits as Ginger Spice with the feisty girl group, donned a sequinned dress herself as she launched the designs.

But her just-above-knee outfit was far more modest than the one she wore at the height of Spicemania, which was so short it showed off her black pants.

Halliwell said yesterday that her original dress had humble origins.

“I originally made the first one out of a tea towel for my Brits performance in 1997, and since then it has re-emerged,” she said.

“I think this dress has definitely become iconic and I’m proud to say that – and equally it celebrates Britain and I can’t think of a better time to celebrate Britain.

“We’ve got the Olympic Games, we’ve got the Diamond Jubilee – we have a lot to feel good about. And I think really wearing something with a Union Jack on really is showing how proud we are to be British.

She added: “I think it’s time we fly the flag with real pride, so I’m very excited.”

Halliwell, whose proceeds from the range will go towards the Youth Sport Trust, will see many of her chart hits come to life with the launch of a musical based on the Spice Girls songs, Viva Forever.

And she revealed she is about to relaunch her own music career with an album on the way.

“My pop career is about to come back. It’s my first love.”

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A survey of 2,000 adults showed that almost a third were planning a spring holiday, compared with an average of around one in five over the past three years.

Savings firm ING Direct said its study confirmed a decline in the number of people taking summer holidays in recent years.

Chief executive Richard Doe said: “It’s understandable that families are choosing not to go on holiday during the summer months when they can get away in the spring for much less and save money.

“This is compounded by the fact we’re set for a outstanding summer of sport, with one of the greatest sporting events in the world taking place on our doorstep.”

[Reuters] Mark Zuckerberg may be retaining tight control over the company when it floats, but he isn’t the only one running the company. Critically he has surrounded himself with experienced executives.

These are some of the key personalities behind Zuckerberg and Facebook – the world’s largest social network.

1. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive and co-founder

Zuckerberg, portrayed as a brilliant, ambitious and ruthless empire-builder in the 2010 movie “The Social Network,” founded Facebook with Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin while at Harvard University in 2004.

The 27-year-old frontman, who has repeatedly said he was in no rush to go public because that might distract employees and dilute his control, decides the direction and product strategy of the company.

Forbes estimates Zuckberg’s net worth at $17.5 billion, making him the 14th richest man in the United States.

2. Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer and Zuckerberg’s top lieutenant

Sandberg, one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley, oversees business operations including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications.

Another former Google employee, Sandberg built and managed Google’s online sales channels for advertising and publishing and operations for consumer products. Before working for Google, she was chief of staff at the Treasury Department under President Clinton.

Zuckerberg’s 533.8 million shares in Facebook are worth almost $16 billion, based on a per-share value of $29.76 that the company assigned to its restricted stock units on 31st December. As a result, Zuckerberg, following the example set by Apple founder Steve Jobs, agreed to decrease his compensation from $1.48 million last year to $1.00 effective Jan. 1, 2013.

By comparison, Sheryl Sandberg earned $30.8 million in total compensation last year.

3. Peter Thiel, investor and director

The billionaire Stanford alumnus and former Wall Street trader was Facebook’s first outside investor and director. Thiel co-founded online payments service PayPal and sold it to eBay Inc for $1.5 billion in 2002.

4. Christopher Cox, vice president of product

Cox organizes Facebook’s product strategy and oversees product management and design. He joined the company in 2005 as a software engineer and was involved in the first versions of Facebook features such as the News Feed and Inbox.

5. Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships

A former Amazon.com Inc manager who helped develop the “Kindle” digital book reader, Rose oversees Facebook’s partnerships, forging ties with Hollywood film studios, game makers, mobile phone companies and even carmakers. Rose also takes the lead on mergers and acquisitions.

6. David Fischer, vice president of advertising and global operations

Fischer is responsible for much of Facebook’s vast and highly profitable advertising network. He runs sales, advertiser marketing and customer operations. During seven years at Google Inc, Fischer helped build that company’s online ad network into the largest in the world.

Before that, he was deputy chief of staff at the Treasury Department during the Clinton Administration.