Intense discounting pushes food inflation to year low May 26, 2026 Intense competition among UK supermarkets has pushed food inflation to its lowest level in a year, despite warnings that the Iran war will push up prices. Heavy discounting saw food inflation fall from 3.1 per cent last month to 2.7 per cent in May, according to data by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ. [...]
Is housebuilding in London impossible? May 25, 2026 After its 900-home development in Peckham was blocked, housebuilder Berkeley said it can “no longer invest” in London. Felix Armstrong asks whether development in the capital really has hit a brick wall At the Aylesham Centre in Peckham, south London, shoppers are met with graffitied walls, peeling paint and shuttered retail units. The site began [...]
Supermarket price caps? Rachel Reeves is truly panicking May 25, 2026 Rachel Reeves's impulse to meddle in supermarket pricing shows she is not seriously interested in growth at all, writes Eliot Wilson.
Industry chiefs slam packaging tax that could push food prices higher May 24, 2026 Industry bosses have hit out at the government and warned that food prices will rise by more than necessary as the packaging tax is set to be introduced. The government had been scrambling to find ways to limit a price surge in the coming months, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves setting out incentives for families to [...]
Iran deal is ‘largely negotiated’ as Trump teases Strait of Hormuz re-opening May 24, 2026 President Trump has said that a peace deal with Iran is “near” as the Strait of Hormuz could re-open within days. On Saturday, Trump said the key trading route would be re-opened in the terms of a deal to be “announced shortly”. He wrote on a social media post: “Final aspects and details of the [...]
Superdrug owner eyes up London float in $30bn dual listing May 23, 2026 The owner of Superdrug is eyeing up a blockbuster London float as part of a $30bn dual listing later this year. AS Watson, which owns the health and beauty retailer, plans to raise about $2bn by listing its shares in both London and Hong Kong before the end of 2026. The Superdrug owner would join [...]
Businesses brace for more layoffs as redundancy warnings climb to post-Pandemic high May 22, 2026 Last year emerged as the most severe year for redundancy warnings since the height of the Covid pandemic, and early 2026 is already accelerating that trend. According to new data from the Liquidation Centre, sourced via an FOI, 2025 was the most severe year for redundancy warnings since 2020, with 315,605 jobs flagged for potential [...]
Rachel Reeves oversees borrowing spike as benefits spending offsets tax haul May 22, 2026 Rachel Reeves oversaw a surge in borrowing in the first month of the financial year as April’s figures hit the highest since 2020 on higher benefit spend. Government borrowing – which marks the difference between total public sector spending and income – topped £24.3bn in April 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). [...]
Retail sales plummet as Iran war hits consumer confidence May 22, 2026 Retail sales plummeted by 1.3 per cent in April, as Brits cut back on spending amid increasing pressure from the war in Iran. The huge fall in retail sales volumes in April was the largest since May last year and defied economists’ forecasts of a softer drop. This comes after a 0.6 per cent rise in [...]
Reeves food tariffs policy will ‘barely touch the sides’ on supermarket prices May 21, 2026 Food manufacturers and retailers have slammed Rachel Reeves’ cost of living measures, claiming the government’s loosening of food tariffs will do little to help supermarkets to cut prices. The Chancellor urged supermarkets to pass on savings from the stripped tariffs to shoppers “in full,” but retailers fear this measure will “barely touch the sides,” City [...]