Business News

Backed by fertiliser giant Mosaic, the Oxford-based venture accelerates field testing of its precision biostimulant technology SugaROx, a UK-based agricultural technology company developing precision biostimulants, has secured a £1 million seed round extension to accelerate manufacturing and field testing of its flagship product. The funding includes a £400,000 strategic investment from The Mosaic Company, one … Read more

Amazon is facing a multibillion-pound legal challenge in the UK after being accused of artificially inflating prices paid by tens of millions of British consumers. The Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), a non-profit group, has applied to launch a collective legal action on behalf of 45 million customers who bought products from Amazon since … Read more

Britain’s retailers are losing more than £146 million each year by failing to modernise their estates in line with net zero targets, new research has warned. Analysis by Mitsubishi Electric found that outdated heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are leaking energy and inflating costs across one of the UK’s most energy-intensive industries. Despite … Read more

Maven Capital Partners has invested £2.6 million in PowerPhotonic, the precision optics specialist whose technology underpins high-power laser systems used in aerospace, defence, healthcare and semiconductor manufacturing. The deal, which includes backing from the Maven Income and Growth VCTs and IFS Maven Equity Finance – part of the Investment Fund for Scotland, managed by Maven … Read more

Wine has always been judged through sensory experience—taste, aroma, texture. But beneath the romance of winemaking lies a logistical and biological puzzle. Vines respond to soil, water, and climate in ways that are often invisible until it is too late. Increasingly, vineyards are using artificial intelligence to surface those hidden patterns. AI is being applied … Read more

Soho House, the exclusive members’ club chain that has become synonymous with celebrity culture and creative-class networking, is to return to private ownership in a $2.7bn (£2bn) deal, just four years after its high-profile listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The move comes after a volatile spell as a public company, during which its … Read more

Think of your favourite brands. What makes them memorable? Why do people keep coming back? The same principles that companies use to position their products and services can be applied to individuals — a process now widely known as personal branding. Harvard Business School lecturer Jill Avery describes it simply: “Every time we apply for … Read more

Tesla has almost halved the cost of leasing its electric cars in Britain, in a bid to reverse sliding sales and shore up its market share against fast-growing Chinese competitors. British motorists can now lease a Tesla for just over half what it cost a year ago, with monthly payments on a Model 3 starting … Read more

Wider access to weight-loss injections on the NHS could deliver significant economic gains by cutting sick days and easing the burden of obesity-related illness, new research suggests. A study of 421 NHS patients using the latest generation of obesity drugs found the number of sick days taken fell by a third within three months of … Read more

Agile has become the gold standard for fast-moving product and development teams. But even with the right mindset, many teams still struggle with implementation. Daily standups turn into status updates, sprint boards get messy, and developers juggle too many disconnected tools. Lark isn’t a traditional Agile tool—it’s better. By combining communication, documentation, project boards, and … Read more