Co-op profit hammered by supply chain disruption as chair warns of ‘stark headwinds’ April 7, 2022 The Co-operative Group’s profit has taken a battering after “significant supply chain disruption” last year, as the grocer pledges to support customers amid a cost of living crunch. The supermarket reported profit before tax of £57m for 2021, down £70m on the year before when it pocketed £127m. The Manchester-based grocer did mark higher profit [...]
Hospitality business owners to pay £215m more in tax this year thanks to NI rise April 6, 2022 British pubs, restaurants and hotels will be forced to pay £216m more in taxes this year thanks to today’s rise in National Insurance for employees and employers. New figures collated by the Liberal Democrats also showed that workers in the hospitality industry will be hit with a £137m extra tax bill this year, after the [...]
UK inflation to scale to twin peaks in April and October April 6, 2022 Inflation in the UK will have twin peaks this year in a sign that households will absorb a double hit to their living standards. At the start of the year, the cost of living was originally forecast to peak in April, driven by the energy watchdog hiking the cap on energy bills 54 per cent. [...]
Calories on the menu: Bosses fear new rules for restaurants will leave a sour taste April 6, 2022 Diners are being confronted with the calorie contents of meals at some restaurants under new laws that come into effect today – but could this do more harm than good? Hospitality bosses have said the changes come at the worst possible time, as the sector endeavours to recuperate pandemic losses while staring down the barrel [...]
The Russia–Ukraine war and other geopolitical risks April 5, 2022 The war in Ukraine is dominating the headlines. For now. But the conflict’s indirect reverberations will ripple far beyond the borders of its combatants and their allies. Indeed, they could give rise to new and varied geopolitical risks throughout the world. The war’s potential effect on the global grain supply and food inflation is especially [...]
Inflation heats up as UK firms launch record price rises April 5, 2022 The cost of living squeeze that is already threatening to cool growth is tightening, driven by UK businesses lifting prices at the fastest pace on record to cope with a cost storm, a closely watched survey released today reveals. A combination of soaring staff costs, swelling energy bills and higher raw material prices has coaxed [...]
Ukraine war is dramatically dialling up risk of global recession April 5, 2022 The war in Ukraine has dramatically dialled up the risk of a global recession, according to leading economist. The conflict has thrown a ‘massive monkey wrench’ into what was a gradually improving post-pandemic picture, Ira Kalish, chief global economist at Deloitte told delegates at the World Retail Congress in Rome. And it could have damaging, [...]
Russia-Ukraine war to send chill through UK economy April 5, 2022 Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine could leave gas prices twice as high as they would have been if the Kremlin had not sent troops into Kyiv for years to come, sending a chill through Western economies, reveals fresh forecasts published today. Energy prices may be permanently higher if the war in Ukraine drags on, adding [...]
What cost of living crisis? MPs give themselves a pay rise of nearly 3 per cent to £84,144 April 1, 2022 MPs’ salaries rise to £84,144 from today, up by 2.7 per cent, after the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) announced last month that their pay would go up for the first time in two years. But it comes on the same day that the biggest jump in domestic energy bills in living memory has come [...]
Euro zone inflation hits record 7.5 per cent as slowing growth puts pressure on ECB April 1, 2022 Inflation in the Euro zone soared to almost four times the European Central Bank’s target, registering at a record 7.5 per cent last month. European countries faced the prospect of slowing growth and rising costs, with the war in Ukraine continuing to put renewed pressure on gas and energy prices. The EU’s package of sanctions [...]