UK companies struggling to hire young people amid cost pressures, MPs told

Business lobby groups say firms less likely to take on staff with few qualifications or who have gaps in their CVs

Ending UK customs relief on low-value imports could push up prices, BCC says

Business group warns of harm to small firms and trade as it calls for phased end to ‘de minimis’ exemptions

Supermarkets hit by falling demand for nitrite-cured bacon due to cancer fears

Sales of products made the traditional way dropped 7% in three months to 25 January while nitrite-free sales rose 20%

UK supermarket chain Iceland drops trademark dispute with Iceland

Company promises ‘rapprochement discount’ for shoppers from country after decade-long action in EU court

£25 for a cookie? What the baffling luxury bakery boom tells us about Britain

Amid a cost of living crisis, pricey patisserie is all the rage – and not just in London. Our reporter goes on a crawl to find out if a tart can really be worth £45

Surprise jump in UK grocery inflation makes interest rate cut less probable

ECB says Middle East war could cause higher inflationary pressure and warns of potential ‘sharp drop in output’

Young fashion fans help UK charity shops thrive on struggling UK high streets

Sales beat wider retail sector last year thanks to customers inspired by websites such as Vinted, industry body says

Sainsbury’s to cut 300 jobs as it restructures tech team and Argos deliveries

Head office job losses part of plan for more separation between supermarket and Argos businesses

Hornby sells slot car racing brand Scalextric for £20m

Purbeck Capital Partners seals deal with model railway maker for toy racing car business and IP rights

Ocado failing to deliver on its potential as one of UK’s great technology hopes

Firm’s automated warehouses are struggling to compete against swift deliveries from stores by bike riders

Plan to pedestrianise London’s Oxford Street given official go-ahead

Sadiq Khan promises to create ‘world-leading urban space’, with remaining traffic removed this summer

Ocado to cut 1,000 jobs in £150m cost-saving drive

Retail technology business to reduce about 5% of global workforce, with two-thirds of job losses affecting UK

John Lewis scraps £500m deal to build 1,000 rental homes

Retailer said ‘fundamental shift in economic conditions’ made it hard for financial partner Aberdeen to raise funds

‘We’re losing accessibility’: the US says goodbye to the mass-market paperback

The so-called ‘pocket book’ sold in supermarkets is being phased out across the US, the latest sign of an ongoing shift in how people are choosing to read

Criminals ‘systematically’ targeting UK shops, costing £400m last year, say retailers

British Retail Consortium warns over ‘endemic’ violence towards shop workers and says theft is causing anxiety