Greencore: M&S sandwich supplier roars ahead amid takeover battle April 1, 2025 Convenience food manufacturer Greencore told markets this morning that it expects profit to come in ahead of expectations for the second quarter, underpinned by “on-going operational and commercial excellence initiatives and a continued focus on cost control”, it said. Convenience food company Greencore supplies all major supermarkets in the UK, including M&S, with chilled prepared [...]
Shop prices fall again but ‘inflation is coming’ April 1, 2025 Shop prices fell again in March but a retail body has warned higher business taxes mean inflation is on the horizon. Retail prices have been in deflation since August 2024, primarily driven by deep discounting by non-food retailers. Shop price deflation was 0.4 per cent year on year in March, against a decline of 0.7 [...]
A low-spend way Labour can actually increase GDP? Boost morale! March 29, 2025 Consumer confidence has become a casual predictor of GDP. Labour can use this to their advantage, writes JL Partners' Callum Hunter.
UK inflation undershoots expectations in February March 26, 2025 Inflation hit 2.8 per cent in the year to February, pointing to a fragile UK economy as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her Spring Statement this afternoon. The Bank of England last week held interest rates at 4.5 per cent as inflation has remained high amid escalating trade tensions and incoming tax rises. Now [...]
‘Corporate purpose? It went too far’, says man behind Britain’s Davos March 25, 2025 John O’Brien founded Anthropy – an annual gathering of corporate and political luminaries dubbed ‘Britain’s Davos’ – to help the UK ‘build back better’ from the pandemic. On the eve of its third instalment in the Eden Project’s greenery, Ali Lyon asks the ex-army captain, “Has it failed?” It is October 2022, and a group [...]
Bullish Gen Z bucks consumer confidence trend March 20, 2025 Gen Z’s plans to go big on spending in the next three months have contributed to a rise in consumer confidence, a new survey has suggested. Barclays last year predicted in November that people born between 1996 and 2010 would account for around 39 per cent of retail spending by 2030. Now a new survey [...]
VR headsets and sliders kick DVDs and turkey out of inflation basket March 18, 2025 VR headsets, yoga mats and sliders have been added to the inflation basket of goods as DVD rentals and minced turkey have been knocked off. The items included in the consumer price inflation (CPI) basket of goods and services, which is compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are designed to reflect Britons’ typical [...]
Wetherspoons set for profit spike as it braces for Budget tax hit March 16, 2025 JD Wetherspoon is expected to reveal soaring sales this week, as experts tip the pub group to seize more market share from smaller competitors amid tax rises coming in April. The London-listed firm, which has around 800 pubs across the UK, is set to report its half-year results on 21 March. In a January trading [...]
The four factors set to raise inflation this year March 7, 2025 Inflation will briefly hit 3.6 per cent this year and “remain well above” the Bank of England’s target until late 2026, according to Oxford Economics. In a report led by UK economist Edward Allenby outlined the four key drivers of inflation in the upcoming year. Changes in the Budget Allenby highlighted the VAT slapped onto [...]
Rate-setter calls on Bank of England to adopt ‘activist’ approach to rates March 6, 2025 The Bank of England should adopt a more activist approach to setting interest rates in order to deal with the “substantial volatility” affecting geopolitics and financial markets, a rate-setter has said. Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), argued that rate-setters should be more willing to vote for more radical [...]