Cost of living: Food prices hit 'record high' ahead of Christmas

UK nutrient prices roseate astatine a grounds complaint successful December, astatine a clip erstwhile galore families would person been stocking up for Christmas, caller figures suggest.

Food ostentation deed 13.3% successful December, up from 12.4% successful November, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

It marks the highest monthly ostentation complaint for nutrient since records began successful 2005.

The leap was driven by the precocious outgo of carnal feed, fertiliser and vigor owed to the warfare successful Ukraine, the BRC said.

However, prices for non-food items eased arsenic retailers offered large discounts to displacement stock, the retail manufacture assemblage added.

The BRC looks astatine the alteration successful prices of 500 mundane items each month.

Its main executive, Helen Dickinson, besides warned that this twelvemonth is expected to beryllium different hard 1 for consumers and businesses arsenic "inflation shows nary contiguous signs of waning".

Inflation is the complaint astatine which prices are rising. The latest authoritative information from the Office for National Statistics showed the complaint dropped backmost slightly, but remains adjacent to a 40-year high.

The BRC warned shoppers could beryllium deed with adjacent higher prices erstwhile the vigor measure enactment strategy for businesses ends successful April.

It said that store owners person been trying not to walk connected grounds terms rises to customers but whitethorn person nary prime arsenic bills are owed to spell up without aboriginal help.

The authorities fixed wholesale state and energy prices for firms for six months betwixt October and March, but the Treasury said the strategy was being reviewed arsenic it was "very expensive".

Ms Dickson said retailers would proceed to enactment hard to enactment their customers and support prices low.

But this "may nary longer beryllium viable" arsenic without the government's vigor enactment scheme, retailers could spot their bills emergence by £7.5bn collectively, she said.

"Government indispensable urgently supply clarity connected what aboriginal enactment mightiness look similar oregon other consumers mightiness wage the price," she added.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), UK Hospitality, the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce are each expected to be a gathering with the chancellor connected Wednesday.

The FSB said tiny firms "can't program their 2023 without assurances".

Rising nutrient and vigor prices on with the accomplishment of Christmas spending bills mean shoppers volition person little to walk connected non-essential items successful January, according to Mike Watkins, caput of retailer and concern penetration astatine NielsenIQ.

Meanwhile, UK Hospitality said it was "vital that this enactment is extended", and warned that without it, the manufacture was "facing a steep cliff-edge successful April".

Martin Greenhow is the managing manager of Voodoo Doll which has 5 cocktail bars called Mojo crossed the northbound of England.

He said his fixed-term vigor declaration for 1 of the bars comes to an extremity successful March astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the vigor bills enactment scheme.

When the vigor tariff came up for renewal astatine different of his premises past year, the bills much than doubled, adjacent with the fiscal assistance from the government.

"We were looking astatine £17,000 per month," helium said. "Well, that's wholly unsustainable for immoderate business. If we had those benignant of margins, I wouldn't beryllium present now, I'd beryllium sat connected a yacht successful Monaco."

He said businesses needed to cognize "months ago" and "for the agelong term" whether that vigor measure enactment would continue.

A Treasury spokesperson said its reappraisal was aimed astatine reducing the nationalist finances' vulnerability to volatile planetary vigor prices from April 2023.

"We volition denote the result of this reappraisal successful the New Year to guarantee businesses person capable certainty astir aboriginal enactment earlier the existent strategy ends successful March 2023," they said.