Food inflation jumps to 18-month high as chocolate and butter prices rise August 26, 2025 Food prices have risen at their fastest pace for 18 months amid surges in the cost of chocolate, butter and eggs, latest figures show. Food inflation lifted to 4.2 per cent this month from per cent in July, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NIQ Shop Price Monitor. It marked the highest level since February [...]
Atom chair: Big banks don’t know their role in economic growth August 20, 2025 The chair of digital bank Atom has slammed Britain’s banking giants for failing to drive the country’s economic ambitions. Lee Rochford, who had tenures at Virgin Money, RBS and BNP before Atom, said it was “increasingly unclear what role [top banks] are playing in driving better customer outcomes or supporting UK economic growth”. Chancellor Rachel [...]
Morrisons cuts over 3,600 jobs as profit passes £2bn August 4, 2025 Morrisons cut more than 3,600 jobs as it returned to profit for the first time since a private equity-backed takeover in 2021. The Bradford-headquartered supermarket giant has posted a pre-tax profit of £2.1bn for the 12 months to 27 October, 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed. The profit comes after Morrisons made [...]
Morrisons taps Google’s Gemini AI to solve the supermarket scavenger hunt July 9, 2025 Morrisons has rolled out a generative AI-powered tool, backed by Google Cloud and Gemini, that helps customers find products in store, part of its ongoing digital revamp and data infrastructure overhaul, City AM can reveal. The feature allows users to type in queries for items, ranging from ‘tahini’ to ‘that tomato puree in a tube’, [...]
Sunny spring boosts sales at Sainbury’s July 1, 2025 Sainsbury’s has reported a boost in fresh food sales this spring despite growing competition in the UK’s supermarket sector. The FTSE 100 company said that overall sales grew 4.9 per cent in the 16 weeks to June 21, ahead of the market. Grocery sales grew 4.9 per cent, while non-food sales grew 4.2 per cent. [...]
Streeting’s junk food crackdown labelled ‘nanny state mission’ June 29, 2025 Retail bosses have hit out at a government plan to stop supermarkets from selling junk food in favour of fruit and vegetables as a “nanny state” policy that would add to red tape faced by high street shops. Under new plans to tackle the NHS’s £11.4bn obesity bill, the government will set supermarkets a “healthy [...]
A tin of baked beans could decide the fate of the LSE June 26, 2025 A lot was riding on Shein’s plans to float in London. Too much, probably. The Asian e-commerce giant’s IPO was set to be the UK’s biggest in years, and was seen as our best bet to revive the market. But plans changed, and Hong Kong now looks the likely home. Is that such a loss [...]
Motor finance woes could make Close Brothers the next takeover target June 19, 2025 Close Brothers has fought tooth and nail in the motor finance battle but analysts have warned regulatory pressures may make the lender vulnerable to a takeover as banking juggernauts look to snap up the competition. The bank has had a bruising 12 months with its stock sinking to lows of 185p in November. Shares have [...]
Deal fever: Banking giants plot takeovers to ramp up market share June 18, 2025 British banking is poised for a major shake-up as top names go on the hunt for fresh acquisitions. Lenders have been scouting new deals that would send shockwaves across the industry. Much of the prospective dealmaking involves London lender Shawbrook, whose private equity owners have been circling high street bank Metro. Ahead of this, Shawbrook [...]
Natwest top pick to acquire TSB June 17, 2025 British banking juggernaut Natwest Group has been pegged as the “most likely acquirer” of TSB Bank. Natwest returned to private ownership last month, ending a nearly two-decade-long banking saga and setting the lender up for a deals spree. The bank has purchased over £5bn worth of shares from the Treasury as part of its directed buyback [...]