Grocery inflation soars to 18-month high as pressure grows on UK shoppers
Grocery price inflation accelerated to 5.2% in the four weeks to July 13, according to market research firm Worldpanel by Numerator, which was recently renamed from Kantar.
It represented a rise from inflation of 4.7% a month earlier and marked the highest level since January 2024.
The data indicated that rising prices are set to add an average of £275 to shoppers' annual grocery spending.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: 'Just under two thirds of households say they are very concerned about the cost of their grocery shopping, and people are adapting their habits to avoid the full impact of price rises.
'Own label products, which are often cheaper, continue to be some of the big winners and, in fact, sales of these ranges are again outpacing brands, growing by 5.6% versus 4.9%.'
He added that shopping data also showed that consumers have been cooking simpler meals in recent months as part of efforts to stick to budgets.
The price increases come amid a backdrop of commodity price pressures and higher costs for retailers, after recent increases in National Insurance contributions and the national minimum wage.
Worldpanel data also showed that overall consumer spending across UK grocers rose by 4.6% over the 12 weeks to July 13.
Online retail specialist Ocado saw the fastest rise in sales over the period, with 11.7%.
It was closely followed by German discount chain Lidl, which saw sales rise 11.1%, to take its share of the UK grocery market to 8.3%, moving it close to the size of rival Morrisons.
Elsewhere, the UK's largest supermarket chain Tesco increased its share of the market further after growing sales by 7.1%.
Asda and the Co-op were among the weaker performers, with sales declines of 3% and 3.7% respectively over the quarter.
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Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Locals' fury at plan to move asylum seekers into £250,000 flats that they say will bring crime spike and violent protests
Residents whose town could soon have a migrant hotel installed above shops in the middle of the high street fear it will cause 'mayhem' and lead to unrest. The Home Office sparked fury this week after it emerged they were secretly plotting, without consultation with the local council, to relocate 35 asylum seekers to a brand new development in Waterlooville, Hampshire, as part of a wider plan to lower the numbers in hotels and 'disperse' migrants across UK towns and cities. With just days to go until a decision is due to be made and amid a planned protest to block the move, residents have expressed concern at being kept in the dark over major decisions that could shape the future of their town. Pompey fan Steve, 58, who has lived in the area his whole life, told MailOnline: 'I've got a 13-year-old granddaughter, when you're about that age, you want to go out up the high street, but I'd be worried now. 'There's no criminal history checks on these people. It's easy to get swept up in that aspect, but it's not just that, I think it will attract trouble for us as well as the migrants. 'With the planned protests, I don't want people to start smashing things up because that plays into the hands of the Home Office and police who say 'see, there we go, right wing'. 'We have genuine concerns but the narrative can change quickly.' The earmarked development is a newly converted block of 19 flats called Waterloo House. It is owned by Mountley Group whose Director, Hersch Schneck, also owns a migrant hotel in nearby Cosham. At the top of the market, the flats could fetch £250,000 each but falling house prices mean taking them off the market and entering into a deal with Clearsprings, a company which procures accommodation for asylum seekers on behalf of the Home Office, could be a far more profitable move for Mountley Group. That's because the government could offer top of the market fees in order to get migrants into housing. As a result, Mountley Group could enjoy fixed guaranteed rates for several years and not be at risk of market turbulence. As well as private rentals, the Home Office is seeking medium-sized sites such as former student accommodation and old tower blocks to house migrants. The flats are located above a bric a brac store called The Junk Emporium which was once a Peacocks clothing store and before that, a Tesco. A member of staff at the shop, who rent from Mountley Group, told MailOnline how they only found out about the plans over Facebook and revealed the fallout of the row has severely impacted business. She explained: 'Yesterday we probably took around a third less. They [customers] think it's to do with us but it's not, we just rent the shop, they kind of assume we know what is going which we don't. 'We've had lots of phone calls and people coming in asking questions we can't answer. We were always under the impression that the flats above would be sold to commuters and people like that. 'The only thing the owners have told us is that it will not be for 35 single men, it is families. What concerns us is this protest. We have not had any assurances in the event of damage to the shop.' Others in Waterlooville, said to be named by soldiers returning from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, feel just as left out of the conversation. Sid Conroy, who used to work for Airbus and now spends his time breeding racing pigeons, fears serious repercussions if the hotel gets given the greenlight. The 68-year-old said: 'I'm dead against it, there could be fights and trouble up here. You're going to have problems here, I can tell you that. 'There are people waiting years on housing waiting lists and it just seems like they get a brand new flat just like that? Why can't they look after us first? 'Our government is making us unhappy because of it. People are left behind, they're thinking more of the people coming in now. You get them coming over here, causing mayhem, causing trouble, all they get is a slap on the wrist and don't do it again. This is how I see it.' Jdarno Osborne, a mum whose children have challenging medical needs, says the hotel has left her angry because she has struggled to get stable housing in the past. The 36-year-old, who has lived in the area her whole life, said: 'It's funny how they can quickly house people from out of the country yet our own don't get support. 'I've got six kids, I lived in a two bed flat for thirteen years and yet somebody can come over and get helped straight away. 'My daughter is 15 now, they sometimes come here to hang with their friends. But it is worrying, there are things kicking off elsewhere because you hear of cases of rapes, harassment, stalking. 'We have to deal with this but people don't seem to care.' The row over the proposed hotel has triggered a political fallout which has seen local MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, Suella Braverman, the former Home Secretary, launch a petition to block the hotel going ahead. She said such sites make town centres 'no-go zones for the patriotic, common-sense majority' adding: 'This site, in the centre of our town, is utterly inappropriate for migrant accommodation. It must be stopped.' Her petition has garnered nearly 10,000 signatures. Leader of Labour-run Havant Borough Council, Councillor Phil Munday, said last week how the row came about after Clearsprings, who are procuring the site, sent their consultation to the wrong email address. In a furious public statement, he said he was 'extremely disappointed' that such an important issue was handled so poorly but went on to lambast Ms Braverman for 'headline-grabbing'. He added: 'They also failed to follow up to ensure a response of some kind was registered. These consultation exercises need to be taken seriously. The council have secured a 10-day consultation extension period to consider the plans. A decision is expected on 1st August. 'I look forward to the council providing a response that reflects the concerns of the borough', Mr Munday said. Nikki Woodley and her 14-year-old son Harry said they also have reservations if migrants were to be relocated to the high street. Nikki said: 'The council say the information was sent to the wrong person which I don't know if I agree with or not. But I'm obviously against the hotel. It's the worse place to put it because there are children everywhere here. 'I'm not saying they're going to be all horrible and bad and criminals but if they're illegal we don't know who they are, we've got no idea who they are, they could have PTSD. 'I don't suppose you'll come anyone who is for it.' Harry, who spoke to MailOnline with permission from his mum, said he sometimes hangs out on the high street and while the prospect of groups of young migrant men wouldn't bother him too much he said 'I'd probably feel a bit cautious' and consider socialising elsewhere. Kathleen Kingston, 67, who has lived in the area her whole life said housing people above shops on a high street is plain wrong. She went on: 'I think of the accommodation for locals like housing association, there are more people that need housing.' Patricia Walding, 87, added: 'These hotels are changing our towns, they are costing us a fortune and robbing the taxpayer while our own people are sleeping on the streets, I think it's disgusting.' But not everyone is so against the plans. One lady, an SEN teacher, who did not want to be named, feels local people are unloading unrelated grievances about their lives onto asylum seekers because they are 'an easy target'. The mum said: 'People have got different views, those views are not wanting to house asylum seekers. The views and reasoning behind it are one, very racist, and two, not the right reasons. You hear it a lot, just the chat about migrants. 'I don't believe for one second they care about the money side of things with the migrant criss or the actual safety of other people. 'I understand people are concerned about women and children. I'm concerned about the other side of it, the protests, all these people gathering. They'll say its peaceful but it definitely wont be. 'I've had asylum seekers as students, one of them has just past their level three and I couldn't be more proud. When you actually listen to someone like that and they tell you stories what it is really like to come from somehwere like that, you have no idea, you get to wake up in a warm bed every morning. When you see videos they won't show on the BBC. 'Everytime I share my views, people say it's stupid. But you can't help where you're born.' The Leader of Havant Borough Council, Councillor Phil Munday, said 'I understand we have an instructed duty from the Home Office to house asylum seekers within the borough, however it is important that the council works closely with all concerned to advise on the placement for these vulnerable people. 'I have taken immediate action and personally called The Home Office to request an extension to their consultation in order for us to respond accordingly. This has also been followed up with formal requests in writing from our officers. 'We are extremely disappointed that the company involved with this important consultation, considering the impact it may have on our local community, was not only sent to an incorrect email address, but they also failed to follow up to ensure a response of some kind was registered. These consultation exercises need to be taken seriously. Councillor Phil Munday added 'I also have grave concerns on the impact the recent video posted by MP Suella Braverman will have, and I would urge the community to act responsibly and allow us to address this matter formally in the correct manner. 'As part of my open letter to Suella Braverman MP on this matter I will be reminding her that those who could potentially be accommodated somewhere within our borough, will be supported asylum seekers. 'They are categorically not recognised by the state as illegal immigrants – regardless of the headline-grabbing title of Suella Braverman's petition – and I urge people to consider this in their views and actions.' As of late June 2025, there are approximately 32,000 asylum seekers housed in hotels in the UK. As of July 20, 2025, over 20,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year, according to the BBC.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
If Kate and William upsize, will an old pile with a tennis court be a curse?
William and Kate are reported to be considering a move from their cosy four-bedroom home in the grounds of Windsor Castle for somewhere more expansive — and certainly grander. If it's true, they will be swapping their picturesque cottage for a gothic fort. Fort Belvedere, also in Windsor Great Park, and where King Edward VIII signed his abdication papers, has eight bedrooms, 59 acres, a swimming pool, tennis court and a walled garden. It's the upsizing equivalent of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle moving into Toad Hall. The idea makes sense on many levels. William is the future king, has three children, presumably a number of staff, and needs a house where you can find room to store ceremonial robes as well as boxes of Lego. The idea of more space for a young family will certainly be enticing. But some aspects of the move to somewhere much larger will be challenging too. And I know. I've done it. • Read more expert advice on property, interiors and home improvement Ten years ago, on a whim, I decided to sell my one-bedroom basement flat in north London for a grand eight-bedroom house with two staff cottages and an enormous walled garden set in 72 acres of Capability Brown parkland in Hertfordshire. We managed to get a hefty mortgage, some financial help from family, and a good price for my flat. Madness, of course, but the house and park, belonging to the youngest son of an earl, had fallen into slight disrepair, and my husband and I fancied a project. The house was so charming and so near London, had great potential, and was reached by a magical mile-long drive that took you into a stable-yard through the archway of a bell tower. Buying the property took every penny we had. There would be little spare each month to run and restore it. The immensity of the task ahead was very apparent the day we moved in. With all the previous owner's grand furniture and metres-high family portraits removed the house looked bleak, shabby and even larger than before. We couldn't afford a proper removal company so had hired some men with a lorry that we had found online. They got lost while trying to find the property and didn't arrive with my modest amount of furniture until 4am. When they had finished unloading our possessions I was dismayed to discover that everything we owned fitted into one small room of the house. Over the next few weeks I spent a lot of time on eBay searching for sofas and beds. When you upsize so dramatically it takes some time to adjust to the new proportions you now live within. A pretty three-seater sofa I bought online, which looked suitable in size and period for our Georgian house, appeared ridiculously small when I placed it in the drawing room, as if it had been stolen from a doll's house. Our bedroom was enormous too. It took about five minutes to cross it to reach the en suite bathroom. A few weeks after we moved in, the soles of my feet began to ache so much it hurt to walk. I went to see my GP because I thought I might have developed plantar fasciitis. The doctor asked me if I spent much time walking around in bare feet. Only to get to the bathroom each day, I told him. That was what had caused the problem. I would need to wear shoes to go for a wee in the future, he said. • Ten planning applications and £60,000: the torment of building a house Slowly, we managed to populate areas of the house and buy mattresses to go with the eight beds we now owned; paint the giant walls; sand the endless wooden floors; pull up stained carpets, restore rotten window frames and replace the 1970s kitchen units. It may still have looked more Bleak House than Downton Abbey, but it did at least look like people lived there. When you upsize so dramatically, it also takes a period of adjustment to use the extensive space you now have. We were used to living in an open-plan flat where everything was within easy reach of the sofa. So initially we tended to live within only three of the property's many rooms. It was hard to think of a reason to leave the sitting room you were in to sit in another sitting room instead just because you could. I became obsessed that it was a waste to have so many rooms that were unused, even unseen. So every evening when I got back from work I would wander round the house, and the two empty cottages, and peer into every room we owned. It seemed unappreciative not to do so. By the time I had done this each night it was time for bed. And, first world problem, I know, but losing your glasses or misplacing the house keys in a property this size is a monumental disaster. A whole weekend can be spent searching every room and garden bench to find them. Eventually, keys and spectacles were fixed with electronic trackers to help us locate them more speedily. And thank God for the Find My function on iPhones. Cash to cover his new home's running costs is unlikely to be a problem for the Prince of Wales. His income from the Duchy of Cornwall will more than cover the heating bills and the costs of a gardener or two at Fort Belvedere. We weren't quite so prosperous, so winters were chilly, parts of the house would effectively be closed until spring, and the walled garden looked a little underwhelming populated with only a couple of small vegetable beds and a row of dahlias. You needed a sat-nav to locate them they looked so minuscule. And it was three years before we could afford to renovate and use the overgrown tennis court. It looked more like an allotment than a Wimbledon lawn. • Babies or house: how would you rather spend half a million pounds? Eventually, we rented out the house for film and shoot locations to fund further renovations. Sometimes this was quite fun. We watched them film a scene from The Crown on our staircase (when Princess Margaret meets Antony Armstrong-Jones) and witnessed a gruesome murder take place in the cellar for a horror film. But it had it's drawbacks too: you would get shouted at for flushing the loo upstairs when they were filming an emotional scene downstairs; objects you cherished would never be seen again unless you watched the film they had been borrowed for; and sometimes I'd get home from work, desperate to flop in front of the TV, only to discover the sitting room had been turned into a bathroom and the sofa had been replaced by a bidet. One July evening I returned to find reindeer and snow in the garden and a bunch of small children running round a dining room laden with festive food and tinsel. A department store was filming its Christmas ad campaign at our house. After five years of extraordinary adventures, cashflow challenges and unforgettable house parties — one New Year's Eve all 32 guests stayed overnight with us — we were made an offer we couldn't refuse to sell the house. The family who brought it from us renovated it for seven years before moving in. In that time, we've already bought and sold three times. We now live in a four-bedroom farmhouse in Cumbria, a house more appropriate to the income I receive from the Duchy of Langmead. It's probably the house that I've been happiest in. I quite like being downwardly mobile. My upsize days are over. William and Kate's are only just beginning.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
How to make Great British Railways a success
Before Labour ministers choose slick slogans for their new state-run trains they should recall Henry Ford's words: 'Nothing happens until somebody sells something.' Contrary to what some in the rail sector and Whitehall seem to think, rail services cannot exist without their passengers — what they want and what they are prepared to pay. A herculean effort to win more customers from the airlines and road users is essential. Britain's railways are at a watershed. Under privatisation, passenger journeys almost doubled. By the 2010s, private franchises were running three times as many trains between London and Manchester as the old British Rail (BR) had in the early 1990s. During the two decades between privatisation and the pandemic, passenger journeys increased by 107 per cent and services by 32 per cent. Passenger satisfaction in Britain was higher than for any other major European railway. Revenue increased by 145 per cent in real terms, compared with only a 16 per cent rise in operating costs, and £14 billion of private investment went into improving the train fleet. • Ministers heading for union clash in bid for hi-tech rail travel Privatisation introduced innovations in marketing, ticketing and operational efficiency. The volume of rail travel in Britain rose to a level not seen since the 1930s, on a network half the size and with a very good safety record. The pandemic was devastating for rail. It wasn't just that train travel collapsed during the lockdowns, requiring subsidies of £20.5 billion in 2023-24 prices) to cover losses. People's travel and working behaviour changed, probably for ever. Traditional flows of revenue from business travel, first class and five-day commuter season tickets, particularly in London and the southeast, have fallen away. In the year to March only 13 per cent of journeys were made using season tickets, compared with 34 per cent before the pandemic. Even though passenger numbers are close to 100 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, revenue is still down by £1.4 billion, at 89.1 per cent. Passengers are paying less to travel outside the old peaks. The taxpayer continues to cover an unacceptably high annual subsidy of £12 billion for a sector that only delivers 2 per cent of all journeys taken by the public. Consequently, ministers must now prioritise growth as they prepare to introduce the bill to create the state-owned Great British Railways (GBR), almost 80 years after Clement Attlee first nationalised rail. Without a ruthless focus on what passengers want alongside a demand-led model, a spiral of decline — higher subsidy and fares — could easily take root. GBR risks being a solution in search of a problem and morphing into the ghost of BR unless ministers develop a viable long-term vision. New research from the Centre for Policy Studies highlights four key areas which, if supported, would deliver more passengers, more income and better services for passengers. • Great British Railways 'won't be run by civil servants' First, ministers should support a mixed model across the intercity high-speed network so GBR trains faces competition from non-subsidised 'open access' operators. For 25 years this model has successfully delivered passenger growth and satisfaction on the East Coast Main Line between London, the northeast and Scotland. It has meant better services, more routes, faster trains and cheaper tickets while also bringing more passengers to the route. This has led to new, popular rail operators entering the market, which has pushed the dominant, government-run train operator, LNER, to deliver better services for its customers. European railways that have copied this successful model have seen a 40 per cent increase in passengers and fare reductions of between 20 and 60 per cent. Second, GBR should not regulate itself, especially as the white paper proposes taking key sector powers away from the independent Office of Rail and Road. In no other regulated sector does the dominant market operator also control and deliver key elements of its own regulation, such as decisions on market access and charging. This could have huge implications for growth, open access and more rail freight. Only last week the environment secretary slammed the water companies for 'marking their own homework' and pledged to end 'operator self-monitoring'. But there is a risk that this will become the case on the railways. Third, GBR must adopt an unforgiving focus on making train travel as easy, cheap and user-friendly as possible, not least when designing a new GBR ticketing app to replace those of existing train companies. In addition to competing with popular ticketing sites it must be designed by the world's leading retail software companies rather than civil servants. GBR should deliver a 'Rail Miles' loyalty scheme, which is years overdue and could be linked with purchases made in the hospitality and retail sectors. • The Times View: Prejudice against private train operators is misguided Fourth, the vast 52,000-hectare railway estate can and must generate much more income. Commercial and residential development, renewable energy generation, light parcel freight, health hubs at stations alongside a higher-quality retail offer are all underused sources of income. We must learn from countries such as Japan, where railways earn at least one third of their revenue from non-ticket sources. Rail can and must be at the centre of Britain's industrial, employment, housing and regeneration strategies. The ghost of BR hangs over GBR. But if the passenger is put first and proven models are embraced then the future could be very different. Rail might not get another chance. Tony Lodge is a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies and author of Rail's Last Chance, published today by the CPS
