Inflation hits 10-year high as energy, fuel and clothing costs jump
Russell Hotten Business reporter, BBC News Getty Images The cost of living surged by 5.1% in the 12 months to November, up from 4.2% the month before, and its highest level since September 2011. Higher transport and energy costs drove the rise, which was above forecasts of a 4.7% increase, the Office for National Statistics […]
Inflation hits new 30-year high in February
Tom Espiner Business reporter, BBC News Getty Images The cost of living continued to soar last month, according to official figures. Prices rose by 6.2% in the 12 months to February – the fastest for 30 years – as fuel, energy and food costs surged. Prices are rising faster than wages and the Bank of […]
The challenges of running a business in Ukraine’s second city
Janet Barrie BBC News, Kharkiv, Ukraine Getty Images Activists hold a ‘Kharkiv is Ukraine’ banner aloft during the Unity March in February What happens when your country faces invasion, and you just want to get on with running your business? In Ukraine, there is a distinct sense of déjà vu for people running small and […]
Shopping habits have changed for good, says Aldi
The cost-of-living crisis has changed shopping habits for good, according to the boss of Aldi in the UK and Ireland. Giles Hurley says shoppers are buying more own-label products than ever before and he expects this to stick. Cheaper supermarket own-label ranges are enjoying a boom as shoppers try to save money. Aldi overtook Morrisons […]
Food suppliers hit back at Tesco chair in price hike row
Food suppliers have hit back at claims by Tesco’s chairman that they are using high inflation as an excuse to raise prices unnecessarily. Tesco’s John Allan told the BBC it was “entirely possible” that suppliers were taking advantage of poorer households. But the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) called his comments “difficult” and said the […]
Rising costs could push family spend up £1,700 a year
BBC Panorama Reporting team Getty Images The figures are based on a family of two adults and two children A typical UK family will spend £1,700 more per year on household costs in 2022, according to a forecast for BBC Panorama. The analysis, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), projected the […]
What will happen once the grace periods end?
John Campbell BBC News NI Economics & Business Editor PA Media Getting goods across the Irish Sea border involves a range of new processes, checks and documentation At 23:00 on New Year’s Eve a new EU trade border was effectively created in Northern Ireland’s ports. It is, in many ways, unlike the EU’s other frontiers. […]
Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free
Maddy Savage BBC News, Hummelsta Maddy Savage Lifvs has 20 stores in rural neighbourhoods Dark clouds loom over the pine forest surrounding Hummelsta, a town of 1,000 people that hasn’t had any local shops for a decade. Since December, a red wooden container, about the size of a mobile home, has offered a lifeline. It’s […]
India added to coronavirus ‘red list’ for travel
Matt Hancock says putting India on the “red list” for travel was a “difficult but vital decision” India has been added to a “red list” of countries from which most travel to the UK is banned, over fears of a new Covid variant, the health secretary has said. From 04:00 BST on Friday 23 April, […]
Russians on the invasion of Ukraine, three years on
Steve Rosenberg Russia editor BBC Recruitment posters for the invasion of Ukraine are everywhere in Russia Driving into Tver, the first thing I notice are the soldiers. They’re everywhere. On billboards, the sides of buildings, at bus stops. Portraits with the words “Hero of Russia”. Posters of troops with Kalashnikov rifles encouraging the public to […]