Easyshop.co.uk, an online underwear retailer, has bucked the trend of negative investor sentiment towards the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector by attracting £2m (€3.22m) of expansion capital. The second round investment from two of its existing shareholders, Xenon Enterprises and Iridium Holdings - both offshore private investment trusts - comes at a time when scores of new economy B2C start-ups are running out of cash.

Last week, online beauty and health site Clickmango.com, announced that it would cease trading after failing to secure £300,000 to keep it going for the next quarter.