The Weston family's agreed takeover of Boots is the latest chapter in a decade of upheaval for UK pharmacy, as online prescription services, private equity break-ups and relentless closures redraw the high street. The home delivery expert Parcelhero argues that the real prize is not Boots' stores but its place in a health market that is moving online.

Official ONS figures show the number of transport & storage sector businesses reporting lower turnover more than doubled in a month, while almost none saw growth. The home delivery expert Parcelhero says the sector’s expectations for October are weak, with only 6.1% of firms forecasting growth, compared with 23.5% of manufacturers.

Online sales values rose 2.5% in August and non-store retail volumes grew 1.7%, recovering more than half of July's slump, with online spending now 8.9% higher than a year ago. Parcelhero says July's dip was a hangover from June's heatwave and promotions, not a sign of e-commerce losing momentum.

Could being in a delivery drone corridor soon boost the value of your house? Our new industry report, 'Delivering the Future', predicts how deliveries will keep shrinking to minutes by 2030. It also explores far-future scenarios stretching from underground freight tunnels to quantum teleportation.

Delivery and logistics firms have gone from being the least likely UK sector to embrace homeworking to one of the fastest-growing, new analysis of ONS data by the delivery expert Parcelhero shows.

While the demise of our local pubs is capturing the headlines, another great British institution is in equal danger of vanishing from our towns and cities. From WHSmith's disappearance and its successor TG Jones's shaky finances, to years of turmoil at Clintons and Paperchase, Parcelhero's warnings about the decline of newsagents and stationers are being borne out chain by chain.

New data shows just 9.7% of transport and storage businesses expect to raise prices in September – the lowest of any major UK sector, and down sharply from 15.8% in August. Manufacturers and retailers, by contrast, are far more likely to be pushing prices up, says the delivery expert Parcelhero.

Parcelhero has published a free pallet air freight guide sheet to help growing UK exporters understand how to ship consignments of 150kg or more internationally.

Online retailers who moved their summer sales earlier this year effectively borrowed business from July, says Parcelhero, as online sales values tumbled -3.9%.

The UK's exporters are being squeezed from both directions – falling volumes and rising costs – according to a new analysis of official trade and business survey data by the international delivery expert Parcelhero. The findings come as the ONS's latest UK trade bulletin shows goods exports slumped by £2.2bn (6.3%) in a single month.