LUXURY crystal and china maker Waterford Wedgwood has been put on the market by its US investment firm owner.

The 250 year old company, whose brands include Royal Doulton and Royal Albert, is a target for private equity buyers.

Searchlight Capital, Cinven and Pamplona Capital are in the running for the business, which was snapped up by New York private equity firm KPS Capital in 2009, reports The Sunday Telegraph.

Scottish ministers have been warned of a furious backlash if they hand a major public sector water services contract to Anglian Water.

The English firm is in the driving seat to win a £350 million contract to supply mains water and waste water services ahead of Business Stream, the Scottish Water offshoot for non-domestic services, according to The Sunday Times.

The newspaper quotes public sector trade union Unison as saying ministers will have to "explain why they have let so many Scots down" should the contract be handed to a company outside Scotland.

Book prices are rising at their highest rate since 1997 because people switching to hardbacks and buying real books to read to their children, instead of using electronic devices.

The Office of National Statistics found the price of books rose by 12.8 per cent in the three months of September, and by an average of 7.4 per cent, The Mail on Sunday reported.

The newspaper said there are now hopes in the book trade that Amazon may be about to increase prices following pressure from shareholders to improve margins and publishers to curb discounting.

A special report in the Sunday Herald considers the extent to which Scottish firms will benefit from the decommissioning oil and gas installations in the North Sea. It is expected that the activity could be worth as much as £40 billion in the next 35 years, but so far most of the major contracts have been handed to companies in Norway, Denmark and England, the newspaper says.