Sector must contend with rising fuel and wage costs plus uncertainty about EU exit

Carr’s, NFW and National Milk Records face biggest overhaul in decades

Shares in Connect Group and Wincanton fall as Xpediator’s rise

Companies focused on leisure pursuits have had mixed fortunes on public markets

UK’s smaller players have proved adept at scooping up rivals

Like their established high street rivals, new entrants face challenging conditions

Concerns that Beijing’s curbs on new releases will hinder expansion plans

Businesses from asset managers to outsourcing groups are starting to use machine learning

A £60m commercialisation centre hopes to take the material from the lab to the factory

Falling prices for digital assets such as bitcoin hurt start-ups

Diurnal, Tissue Regenix and Beximco went through long process of bringing products to market

Small-caps aim to carve out a slice of booming industry

Tighter regulations in home market contrast sharply with loosening in US

UK specialists add substance to government’s ‘Global Britain’ slogan

Smaller E&P players and majors jostle for acreage in African frontier region

Worldwide sales of orphan drugs are forecast to total $262bn by 2026

London-listed groups have struggled to regain growth at home

Beer sales fell 1.7% in first quarter but sector expected to get boost from World Cup

Flurry of M&A activity suggests optimism in a sector with significant overseas exposure

Analysts believe M&A will continue as companies continue to automate jobs

Focus of investors is on companies with reserves, production and cash flow

There were 275 more shop closures than openings in the region in the first quarter

$2.6bn cost for taking a medicine from discovery to market remains stubbornly high

Avon Rubber, Trifast and Xaar manufacture niche and high-value products

Infrastructure funds have long been backers of renewable energy projects