Sunny spring boosts grocers as Brits buy 2,400 packs of strawberries every minute June 24, 2025 The UK’s unusual burst of sun boosted purchases of fruit and ice lollies this spring, although food inflation continued to soar at the UK’s grocers. Higher prices for fresh meats, chocolate and butters drove food inflation to 4.7 per cent, its highest level since February 2024, according to data insights group Kantar. But Fraser McKevitt, [...]
No jobs in 30 years? UK tech leaders push back on Musk’s AI claims June 10, 2025 Elon Musk’s bleak prediction that “there’s not going to be any jobs for anyone” in 30 years has come under heavy fire from some of the UK’s leading AI figures at London Tech Week. Instead of sounding an alarm for mass unemployment, UK experts argued for transformation and a new focus on control over AI, [...]
Fathers Day gifts for wine loving dads June 9, 2025 In general, I am against the gendering of beverages. These days it seems a little embarrassing to pigeon-hole prosecco for hen dos and cognac for city boys. Jon Bon Jovi has a rosé, Hampton Water and the World Whiskies Awards 2025 honoured Stephanie Macleod as Master Blender of the Year. Let us be clear: everyone [...]
M&S: Shares in FTSE 100 firm to hit 10-year high, say analysts June 6, 2025 Shares in Marks and Spencer (M&S) have been tipped to rocket to their highest valuation in ten years in the wake of the FTSE 100 giant battling a major cyber attack. Off the back of the British icon’s full-year results, analysts are predicting that shares in M&S will rise to more than 420p each. The [...]
Why Greek wine is having its moment in the sun June 3, 2025 Mayfair’s flamboyant restaurant Bacchanalia is taking part in the Coravin World Wine Tour 2025, with an exclusive wine list of rare and iconic bottles never usually available by the glass. Here, over a copper dish of silky truffle tagliatelle, I was reminded just how brilliant Greece’s Xinomavro (pronounced Zee-no-mav-ro) can be. I sipped at a [...]
Grocery inflation jumps to highest level in more than a year May 28, 2025 Grocery price inflation shot up to 4.1 per cent in May, driven by chocolate and suncare products in the hottest start to the month on record. The rise follows a 3.8 per cent jump in April and a 1.8 per cent rise in March, according to Kantar. “This latest jump in grocery price inflation takes [...]
Why shrimp deserve compassion too May 6, 2025 They may be ugly and unappealing, but shrimp – farmed in vast quantities in squalid conditions – deserve ethical consideration, says Phoebe Arslanagic-Little I can buy a box of supermarket eggs for 15p an egg. Instead, I have a crate of eggs couriered to me, once a month, from a farm in Lancashire called Oakstream [...]
Naked Wines picks: three delicious bottles for World Earth Day April 8, 2025 In Libby’s Naked Wines diary this week, it’s the top picks for World Earth Day On 22 April we celebrate Earth Day so I have sought out some wines that are going above and beyond to make this world a better place – and are tasty drops, too. Naked Wines bottles of the week Silverhand [...]
‘It’s tragic that Britain hasn’t made Greg Jackson a national hero’ March 31, 2025 The billionaire founder of Octopus Energy, Greg Jackson, should be recognised more for his achievements in business and made a national hero, according to marketing veteran Rory Sutherland. The vice chairman of Ogilvy added it’s “tragic” that the UK doesn’t “make more heroes of our really innovative business successes” in the way the USA does. [...]
Spring Statement 2025: Markets and bonds tread water ahead of ‘testing day’ March 26, 2025 Markets and bonds were relatively flat on Wednesday morning as analysts predicted Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement would mark a “testing day”. The FTSE 100 had minor gains following market open, with Marks and Spencer leading the index’s biggest risers. The mid-cap FTSE 250 had a slight uptick, led by a surge in retailer Ocado after [...]