Shoppers are cutting spending on food because of the cost-of-living crisis – but are still splashing out more than before the pandemic on their hobbies and gardens, according to official spending statistics from the Office for National Statistics (The Times £).
UK retail sales are declining at a pace not seen since the worst months of the pandemic, according to industry bodies, as soaring inflation hits household finances, new data show (The Financial Times £).
According to the BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, households are trading down to cheaper brands in both food and non-food while cutting back on discretionary purchases such as white goods and homeware (The Times £).
With the annual inflation rate hitting 9.1% in May, the BRC said even the boost to demand caused by the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations failed to prevent retail sales in June being 1% lower than a year earlier (The Guardian).
Food campaigners are taking legal action against the government for failing to support the transition to a low-carbon diet by encouraging people to eat less meat (The Guardian).
Superdrug has paid out £35m in dividends to its Hong Kong owner Li Ka-shing (The Telegraph).
Swiss duty-free shopping group Dufry said on Monday it planned to acquire Italian caterer Autogrill to create the world’s largest travel stores operator, with 5,500 outlets in 1,200 airports and highway locations worldwide (The FInancial Times £).
The market report in The Times (£) says that SSP risks getting burnt by rivals’ mega-merger.
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