M&S to speed up plans to close 1 in 4 larger clothing stores October 12, 2022 Marks & Spencer will accelerate its plans to slash the number of its larger stores that sell clothing and homeware products. In an update to investors on Wednesday, the supermarket revealed it would shutter more than one in four of its so-called full-line stores within three years rather than five. Plans also include the opening [...]
Pret A Manger invests £10m in staff pay bringing salaries above inflation October 11, 2022 Pret A Manger will invest £10m to support its staff with the cost of living crisis, bringing pay above inflation. The outlet will give its workers a salary boost from 1 December to the tune of five per cent. This comes after the coffee chain invested £9.2m in April this year, with 6,500 of its [...]
Shoppers face £643 increase to yearly grocery bill October 11, 2022 Shoppers are facing an additional £643 jump in their annual grocery bill as grocery price inflation breaks another record. According to freshly published data from Kantar, grocery inflation sits at 13.9 per cent, the highest level since the data firm started tracking prices in the 2008 financial crisis. The average household’s annual grocery bill is [...]
Greencore profit held back by rail strikes and bank holiday October 11, 2022 Food manufacturing giant Greencore has seen profits dented by rail strikes and the bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral in September. In a fourth quarter and full year trading update, the convenience food maker placed its adjusted operating profit at the lower range of £72-77m. The London-listed firm said it had been forced to absorb [...]
Nightclubs hit back at killjoy neighbours as sector stares down ‘fight for survival’ October 6, 2022 The nightclub industry is facing a battle for survival after residents have become accustomed to quieter nights after lockdown, according to bosses. Late night venues in the UK have been attacked by an exponential increase in noise complaints, especially in London hubs, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has claimed. Nightclubs were closed from March [...]
Outrageous raging inflation, and the distortion of CPI October 5, 2022 This week, Dr Chris Kacher pours scorn on CPI while speculating on what might happen if quantitive easing is introduced again.
Greggs: Sausage roll sales rise as consumers look for cheaper eats October 4, 2022 Greggs has reported surging sales this autumn while making no changes to its cost inflation outlook for the year. The sausage roll specialist said on Tuesday that total sales were up 14.6 per cent for the 13 weeks to 1 October 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. Price increases of around five pence [...]
Food inflation hits highest rate ever recorded September 28, 2022 FOOD inflation surged to its highest rate on record since the index started in 2005, according to freshly published data. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ shop price index, food inflation hit 10.6 per cent in September, up from 9.3 per cent in August. For fresh food, inflation swelled to 12.1 per [...]
Inflation forces one in three Brits to trade down to cheaper products September 26, 2022 Brits are trading down to cheaper products in response to rampant inflation squeezing their finances, a survey published today shows. A third of consumers are buying more own brand products, while one in four are turning to cheaper retailers in a bid to cap their weekly shop, according to consultancy KPMG. The research illustrates the [...]
Liz Truss cost of living support fails to prevent new consumer confidence low September 23, 2022 Liz Truss’s cost of living support has done nothing to lift Brits’ optimism out of the doldrums, a closely watched survey published today reveals. Consumer confidence collapsed five points over the last month to minus 49, the lowest since research firm GfK started tracking the figures in 1974. The survey was carried out between early [...]