Lost decade of growth leaves Brits nearly £9k worse off than French and Germans July 13, 2022 Anaemic economic growth since the financial crisis has left the average UK household £8,800 worse off compared to families in Germany and France and other comparable countries, reveals a study published today. Widening income gaps between Britain’s poorest and richest, compounded by flatlining productivity growth since the financial crisis, has led to families missing out [...]
Retail sales tumble to a rate ‘not seen since depths of pandemic’ amid cost of living crisis July 12, 2022 Retail sales volumes are plunging by a rate not seen since the darkest days of Covid lockdowns, as industry voices have warned businesses will struggle amid historic inflation. Total sales dropped by one per cent in June, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG retail sales monitor for the five weeks to 2 [...]
One in six UK households face ‘serious financial difficulties’ amidst worsening cost of living crisis July 11, 2022 One in six households in the UK, about 4.4m, face “serious financial difficulties” as the cost of living crisis worsens with inflation at 40 year highs. This is an increase of 1.6m households from October last year, with over half of all UK households considering their financial situation to be worse now than during the [...]
80 per cent of all Brits have less than £500 in their account as hordes of people are slipping into debt July 9, 2022 The number of customers with persistent debt problems has jumped by almost a third as the cost-of-living crisis bites further, the boss of Lloyds said this morning. Charlie Nunn, who took over at the finance giant, said customers are “concerned” about the economy but said he believes many are talking “too negatively” about the financial [...]
Lurpak row: ASDA says £6 butter with security tag is not UK-wide policy or related to cost of living crisis July 5, 2022 ASDA has said it does not have a UK-wide policy to put security tags on butter in relation to the cost of living crisis. The supermarket giant responded after a journalist shared an image on social media, showing a pack of Lurpak in one of its stores, costing £6, with a tag on. This comes [...]
Bird & Bird hands staff £1,000 each to deal with UK’s cost-of-living crunch July 5, 2022 London law firm Bird & Bird is set to pay £1,000 bonuses to more than 300 of its staff to help them deal with the cost-of-living crisis. The law firm said it will give £1,000 “cost of living allowance” payments to all employees who earn less £50,000 per annum this month, to help them manage [...]
Taxpayers to foot extra £27.3m bill for Royal Family even as cost of living soars July 1, 2022 UK taxpayers will pay an extra £27.3m over the next two years for the Royal Family even as a cost of living crisis grips the country. The additional amount is to help the Royal Family meet expenses after a drop in profits at the Crown Estate, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The Royals spent £102.4m in [...]
Barclays fights cost of living crisis with £1,200 pay rise for 35,000 employees June 30, 2022 Barclays is giving 35,000 of its UK-based staff a £1,200 pay rise to tackle the cost of living. The banking giant will provide this salary increase to customer-facing, branch, and junior support workers from 1 August. “Barclays will continue to monitor the economic situation globally and consider our approach to pay in each country in [...]
Heinz baked beans and ketchup disappear from Tesco shelves amid price increase row June 30, 2022 Tesco, the country’s largest supermarket, is facing shortages of Heinz baked beans and ketchup after a row over price hikes. The US salad-cream maker has hit pause on supplying Brits’ cupboard staples, with some stores having already run out of products and some unavailable to order online. A Tesco spokesperson said: “With household budgets under [...]
Three in four Brits need to take action to make ends meet as merciless cost of living crisis matures June 29, 2022 Four out of five Brits are concerned about making ends meet as living costs surge and three-quarters need to take action to cope with the financial pressures, a new report has found. Over a third (35 per cent) plan to cut back on non-essential leisure and holiday spending, according to the Scottish Widows data, while [...]