Service on the button: If you've ever wandered around a DIY warehouse looking in vain for a member of staff to help you then you will be impressed by developments at the new Homebase outlet on the Ballymun Road in Dublin.

Dotted around the store are customer service points where you can push a button to call a member of staff. If a staff member doesn't get to you within two minutes, you get 10 per cent off whatever you're buying.

Coffee for your liver: Drinking just one cup of coffee a day could help protect you from liver disease caused by alcohol, according to research published last week. People who drink one cup of coffee are 20 per cent less likely to have alcoholic cirrhosis than those who abstain from it. And the more coffee you drink the more protection you get. People who drink four or more cups are 80 per cent less likely to suffer the disease. They might have some trouble sleeping, mind you.