Clipper tea owner gets £76m pay day after KP Snacks deal boosts profit May 7, 2025 The owner of tea brand Clipper is in line for a huge pay day after the sale of Whole Earth to KP Snacks saw a massive spike in profit. Kallo Foods, whose products also include Kallo and Mrs Crimbles, sold the brand towards the end of 2024 for a then-undisclosed sum. New accounts have now [...]
UK tariff threats put small businesses on alert May 6, 2025 UK small businesses have already taken steps to reduce trading with the US amid a temporary reprieve from tariffs, a leading industry group has suggested. The Labour government is yet to rule out retaliatory tariffs on US goods given President Trump’s trade war could hit UK exporters in under three months. But new research indicates [...]
Breadmakers Hovis and Kingsmill in merger talks May 3, 2025 The owners of two of Britain’s biggest bread producers – Hovis and Kingsmill – are reportedly in discussions regarding a merger between the two firms as challenges deepen for the market. Associated British Foods (ABF), the owner of Kingsmill’s parent company Allied Bakeries, and investment firm Endless, which owns Hovis, are in talks about a [...]
Employment Rights Bill will ‘cut retail staff numbers’ April 29, 2025 Labour’s Employment Rights Bill will lead to job cuts and price hikes, a poll of 31 major retailers has found, in the latest sign the government’s legislative agenda risks harming economic growth. The legislation, which is nearing its final stages in Parliament, introduces sweeping changes to zero-hours contracts, sick pay, leave, flexible working and dismissal, [...]
Food inflation rises to its highest level in almost a year April 29, 2025 Food inflation has risen to its highest level in almost a year as cost pressures begin to weigh on prices. Food inflation increased to 2.6 per cent year on year in April, against growth of 2.4 per cent in March and above the three-month average of 2.4 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium [...]
Inflation eases in March amid looming Bank decision April 16, 2025 Inflation remained stubbornly high at 2.6 per cent in March, official data has shown, leaving Bank of England policymakers with a difficult decision to make on interest rates early next month. The year-on-year increase in consumer price inflation (CPI) was lower than the 2.7 per cent figure forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists. The [...]
Inflation expected to ease slightly in March amid uncertain future April 15, 2025 Inflation in the month to March is expected to remain well above the Bank of England’s target rate of two per cent, putting policymakers in an awkward position ahead of a potential interest rate cut in May. A Bloomberg poll of economists said that consumer price inflation (CPI) on a year-on-year basis will hit 2.7 [...]
B&M: Poor UK sales weigh on earnings for bargain retailer April 15, 2025 Discount retailer B&M expects full-year earnings to fall year on year as poor UK sales weigh on overall company performance. However, the company told markets this morning that it expects to report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) above the midpoint of its £605m-£625m guidance range. The firm lowered its expected full-year EBITDA [...]
‘It’s existential’: Unpacking a looming tax scarier than the National Insurance hike April 13, 2025 For William Fugard, chief executive and co-founder of Gusto Organic, headaches caused by issues beyond his control are an occupational hazard. The terms on which the UK decided to leave the European Union meant that – in 2019 – the cost of exporting a pallet of his firm’s premium soft drinks went from £70 to [...]
Consumer confidence flattens as recovery stalls despite wage growth April 11, 2025 Consumer confidence was flat in the first quarter of the year despite high wage growth, as economic uncertainty weighs on Brits. Overall consumer confidence rose 0.3 percentage points in the first three months of 2025, with sentiment towards the UK economy at its lowest level in over a year, according to Deloitte. “The consumer recovery [...]