BRITAIN'S first Sunday newspaper devoted entirely to business was launched yesterday into an already crowded media market.

The launch of Sunday Business was bedevilled by problems, with its London printer withdrawing at the 11th hour and reports that a major investor, the Hinduja family from Bombay, had pulled out.

But the print went ahead with a headline claim that the Conservatives were awarding a £3.5 billion sterling defence contract to British Aerospace in a bid to boost party support in constituencies where the firm has factories. But a British Ministry of Defence spokesman, quoted in the The Sunday Times, said that no decision on the contract had yet been made.

Sunday Business needs to sell 150,000 copies to break even, but its editor and founder, Mr Tom Rubython, is confident he can reach his own target of 220,000.