Perhaps the biggest event this week - at least given the length of time it has been awaited - was the announcement by the management of the Thorntons confectionery retail chain that negotiations over the possible sale of the chain had broken down - news which led to an immediate drop in the company's share price.

The company's chairman, John Thornton, said that it had rejected a number of bids on the grounds that none of them reflected the true value of the chocolate maker and retailer.

The company has improved its performance since the appointment of new chief executive Peter Burdon in 2000, but it has been a somewhat inconsistent recovery, with the weather playing a major role in the group's performance over the last few years.

Finding a trade buyer for the group has been hard because of Thorntons dual business stream - it both manufactures and retails its own chocolates - and clearly none of the financial bidders were prepared to pay the steep asking price the directors were thought to be holding out for (around 200 pence per share, compared to offers thought to be in the region of 180 pence).

So Thorntons will continue to plough its own furrow in 2004, seeking to grow sales through the major multiple retailers in particular, while continuing to revamp its own stores and extend its product portfolio to reduce its reliance on the weather-affected chocolate market.