UK business leaders have warned that crime is becoming an increasingly “serious barrier” to growing Britain’s economy amid a rise in shoplifting, fraud and cyber-attacks against companies.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents tens of thousands of businesses across the country, called on the government to provide “a step change in the support businesses can count on” as it said two-fifths of companies had experienced some form of crime in the past year.

Warning that decisive action was required, it said a fifth of companies in a survey of 1,411 firms had faced fraud or scams. As many as 21% said they had experienced cyber-attacks.

Ellis Shelton, a policy manager at the BCC, said tackling crime would help remove “structural barriers to growth”.

He said: “Crime against business is now a serious barrier to growth and investment across the UK.

“Our research shows many firms are dealing with rising levels of theft, fraud and cyber-attacks. Bosses are being forced to divert crucial time and money to tackling this anchor on growth.

“Crime is becoming more sophisticated and there needs to be a step change in the support businesses can count on.”

The organisation said the government should create a cyber-attack reporting system for companies; establish regional business crime hubs that would bring together police and business crime reduction partnerships; and expand cyber and fraud resilience support for small and medium-sized businesses. It also called for more incentives for companies to invest in security.

There were a string of high-profile cyber-attacks against businesses in the UK last year, including Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, Jaguar Land Rover and Booking.com.

It has been estimated that the hack of JLR alone cost the UK economy £1.9bn, potentially making it the most costly cyber-attack in British history.

M&S said it took a £324m hit to profits after being forced to close its website to orders for more than six weeks after a damaging hack.

At the other end of the scale, tradespeople have warned of a rise in tool thefts, which can hit their ability to do business.

Retail businesses have also complained of rising thefts. Police-recorded shoplifting rose 20% year on year to reach 516,971 offences in the year to December 2024. By March 2025, the annual total exceeded 530,000.

A further BCC survey carried out last autumn found that larger companies are more vulnerable to crime, increasing from 32% among microbusinesses to 58% among firms employing more than 250 people. The manufacturing sector said it was the hardest hit, with 50% of companies reporting business crime.

What a curious confection Death Valley is. It’s as cosy as crime drama gets and yet, thanks to its show-within-a-show concept, it manages to be oddly arch and knowing, too. Its body count challenges that of The Sopranos, but in its soothing episodic rhythms and Welsh valley quaintness, it remains as comfortable and predictable as Christmas.

As we return, everything and nothing has changed. Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) has been promoted to detective inspector and is wondering if her seniority means she can no longer call herself “J-Dog”. She remains charming but also goofy and tactless; at one point, she complains about a teabag being left in a cuppa made for her by the wife of a recent murder victim.

Meanwhile, John Chapel (Timothy Spall) is a long way from the gloomy recluse of old. In fact, he’s positively chipper, almost as full of self-regarding quips as his erstwhile TV detective alter ego, Caesar. He’s now knocking boots with Janie’s mum, Vonnie (Melanie Walters) – “I did try not to,” he says indignantly. Janie isn’t having this and, as a result, John is persona non grata down at the police station. But clearly, this state of affairs will not last. After all, what provincial police force worth its salt could resist enlisting the help of an ageing but still universally recognisable actor to help them crack homicide cases? Not this one.

Death Valley’s main strength remains its willingness to lean into the absurdity of its premise. Across this second season, stories include everything from a suspicious death in a community service litter-picking detail (inevitably, Chapel is forced to don a hi-vis bib and pretend he has committed a driving offence to get the inside track on the group) to the murder of a hipster chef selling seaside street food.

The cases are variable in entertainment value but never in depth or weight – each one is as light as a feather and as gentle as a pillow. They rely on cheerful cameos from guest stars who include Alexandra Roach, Jane Horrocks, Jim Howick and Roisin Conaty. Each crime is solved via a series of hilariously stagey deductions and the climactic reveals veer dangerously (deliberately?) close to self-parody as Janie and John take it in turns to dole out their revelations.

The plotting is ridiculously schematic throughout: Death Valley sometimes feels less like a cosy crime drama and more like a snarky spoof of one. But you’ll be inclined to forgive its surfeit of eye-rolling moments, mainly because of its trump card, Spall. As he becomes more windy and verbose by the episode, you understand that you’re watching a man breezily engaging in one of the least subtle roles of his career and, very probably, one of his most enjoyable. Crucially, he and Keyworth have excellent chemistry, animated by just enough affection and antagonism. Thanks to them, Death Valley is supremely comfortable in its own skin – entirely undemanding but contentedly so.

It’s also relaxed enough to self-critique relentlessly. Once you start noticing these internally referential Easter eggs, it’s hard not to see them everywhere. John rails against “the current level of banality in most mainstream TV drama”. Janie describes John’s performance as “a bit hammy”. A suspect describes one of their reveals as “needlessly theatrical”. All of these meta-judgments check out: on all counts, Death Valley is guilty as charged and bang to rights. If scenery-chewing and excessive exposition were crimes, we’d be locking it up and throwing away the key.

But still, who’s to judge? Really, just the audience, and Death Valley offers audience service in spades. Not every TV cop show has to be as grave as Line of Duty or as expansive as Blue Lights. There is only one thing that can’t be forgiven in a cosy crime drama and that is a lack of character. If the crimes themselves are simple, that’s a feature, not a bug. The twists and turns of a cleverly constructed investigation would get in the way of the core narrative, which remains the odd but sweet central relationship.

Chapel’s entire detective persona (as Caesar and as himself) revolves around deducing “character inconsistencies” in suspects. But as far as he and Janie are concerned, there aren’t any. Death Valley simply has its daft, sometimes painfully sweet cake and eats it. Consumed as part of a balanced diet, it’s just fine.

London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has criticised the government’s plans for a possible north of England bid for the Olympics and Paralympics, saying that excluding the capital city would be “a missed opportunity”.

Ministers have commissioned UK Sport to conduct an “initial strategic assessment” into whether the region could host the Games in the 2040s.

The funding agency would examine the potential cost of staging the event for the first time since London 2012, as well as socio-economic benefit and any bid’s chance of success.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the government was “starting the firing gun on the project.”

But in response, a spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: “London is the sporting capital of the world and the Mayor has openly expressed his ambition for the capital to be part of a future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Sadiq believes that a potential country-wide bid, using all the assets we have in the UK, including the publicly-owned London Stadium would deliver the very best possible Olympics.

“Using London’s existing world-class infrastructure would help deliver the greenest and most sustainable Games, as well as unlocking huge economic growth both here in London and around the country.

“Not including the capital in an Olympics bid would be a missed opportunity, and mean our country fails to unleash the full benefits of a UK-wide games.”

Earlier, Nandy said, “For too long we have been told the Olympics is simply too big and too important to be hosted in the north.

“Not any more. It’s time the Olympics came north and we showed what we can offer to the world.

“We know that we can pull off the most incredible, not just bid, but Olympics. So we’re kick-starting that with a phase-one study about the investment, the resources, the infrastructure, the transport that we’re going to need.”

The findings of UK Sport’s study will determine whether to proceed with a more detailed “technical feasibility study”, with a final decision on any bid resting with the British Olympic Association (BOA).