The chief constable of Norfolk Police has called for tougher and faster punishments for repeat shoplifters, warning that persistent offenders are not being deterred by the current system.Paul Sanford said shoplifting was one of the few crimes in the county

Lloyds Banking Group has announced plans to close a further 95 High Street branches, as the UK’s largest banking group continues to scale back its physical network in response to falling in-branch usage.The closures will affect 53 Lloyds Bank sites,

Children are routinely exposed to adverts for weight-loss injections, diet products and cosmetic procedures online, according to a new report by Dame Rachel de Souza, who has called for tougher regulation of social media platforms.The report, based on a survey

Plant-based drinks maker Oatly has lost a long-running legal fight over its use of the word “milk” in marketing, after the UK Supreme Court ruled that it cannot trademark or use the slogan “post-milk generation” in connection with dairy alternatives.The

London-based Mozart AI has raised $6 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Balderton Capital, as the startup looks to reshape how music is created in the age of artificial intelligence.The fundraise follows a $1.1 million pre-seed round

Retail spending picked up sharply in January as consumers flocked to post-Christmas sales, offering some relief to a sector hit by a subdued festive period and rising employment costs.Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG showed that retail

Growing numbers of Scottish spirits producers are showing signs of financial strain as weakening export demand, rising costs and trade barriers squeeze margins across the sector.Research by restructuring specialist BTG Begbies Traynor found that 69 Scottish distillers were facing “significant”