Lower retail prices drive shops into deflation March 4, 2025 Prices in UK shops continued to fall in February, as discounting in retail offset high grocery prices. Shop prices fell by 0.7 per cent year on year in February against a decline of 0.7 per cent in January, driven by a 2.1 per cent drop in retail prices. “Discounting is still widespread in fashion as [...]
Oak Furnitureland battles rising costs as sales cut March 3, 2025 Oak Furnitureland remains in the red as a catalogue of issues impacted its sales during its latest financial year. The Swindon-headquartered retailer has revealed its revenue fell by 17 per cent to £236m in the 12 months to the end of June 2024 because of “a soft market, the Red Sea disruption and the subsequent [...]
Consumer confidence rises in February but cost-of-living crisis ‘far from over’ February 21, 2025 Brits’ confidence rose in February, fueled by better personal finances and a brighter outlook on the general economy. However, confidence remained down on last year. GfK’s index measuring changes in personal finances during the last year rose three points to -7, seven points better than February 2024. The major purchase Index rose three points to [...]
‘Alarm bells’ for Bank of England as inflation accelerates to three per cent February 19, 2025 Inflation picked up faster than expected at the start of the year, official data shows, as concerns grow about the persistence of price pressures in the economy. The headline rate of inflation picked up to 3.0 per cent in January, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was up from [...]
Vitality: ‘Why your health and life insurance premium won’t go down’ February 18, 2025 In this episode of Boardroom Uncovered, Neville Koopowitz, the chief executive of health and life insurance giant Vitality.
Week in Business: Growth hammer blow means Reeves must change course February 7, 2025 If the Chancellor was still on a high from last week’s big growth-focused speech, the Bank of England has just pulled her back down to earth and, for good measure, poured a bucket of cold water over her. This is a time for hard truths and none harder than the hammer-blow fact that the Bank [...]
Grocery inflation slowed as supermarket discounts deepened February 4, 2025 Grocery inflation in January slowed for the first time in six months after supermarkets lowered prices in response to stretched household budgets. Inflation was 3.3 per cent in January, easing from 3.7 per cent in December, according to the latest figures from Kantar. Prices rose for chocolate, juices and butters, but fell for cooking sauces, [...]
Eurozone inflation unexpectedly rises as Trump trade war fears mount February 3, 2025 The headline rate of inflation picked up to 2.5 per cent in January, according to preliminary estimates from Eurostat.
UK economy: Inflation worries build as manufacturing cost pressures surge February 3, 2025 S&P's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing index showed that input prices increased at "accelerated rates" last month.
Warnings Trump tariffs on China and allies risk economic disruption February 1, 2025 New trade penalties against Canada, Mexico and China that US President Donald Trump plans to impose represent an aggressive early move against America’s three largest trading partners – but at the risk of higher inflation and possible disruptions to the global economy. In Trump’s view, the 25 per cent tariffs against the two North American [...]