The Interview Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of Shoprite Holdings: we have a purpose to help people survive
(Image: Pieter Engelbrecht, Credit: Getty Images/Bloomberg)
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Supermarket giant WILL hike prices across UK stores following Rachel Reeves' tax raid in big U-turn
A MAJOR supermarket chain has said food prices will have to rise over the next six months following the Government's Autumn Budget. In recently published accounts, Iceland blamed Rachel Reeves ' tax raid for hiking its suppliers' costs. 1 Employer National Insurance contributions and the national minimum wage rose in April, with some suppliers passing these added cost onto supermarkets. It comes after Iceland's boss Richard Walker told the Telegraph in January companies should stop "wallowing" and complaining about the measures announced in the Budget. Iceland said it was "doing our utmost" to offset rising costs caused by suppliers, but would "inevitably have to pass some of these on to consumers, where we can do so without weakening our own price position in the marketplace". It added: "In consequence, we expect UK food price inflation to peak at some 4-5% in the next six months." The warning comes after the Bank of England (BoE) estimated food prices will rise to around 5.5% by the end of the year. The central bank said food inflation was surging due to increased business labour costs and obligations on retailers to reduce packaging waste. Swathes of retailers and chains have increased the price of products or warned of future hikes after the Government's Autumn Budget. Employer National Insurance contributions were bumped up from 13.8% to 15% and the threshold at which they are paid lowered from £9,100 to £5,000 in April. The national minimum wage was also increased to £12.21. But the hikes have piled pressure on retailers, with some saying they have to pass the added costs onto customers. Four ways to save money on your weekly shop in Iceland The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents retailers, cautioned in July prices will keep rising. Helen Dickinson, its boss, exclusively told The Sun last month: "Retailers are doing everything they can to shield consumers from the worst of the inflationary pressures. 'However, with £7billion in additional costs from the last Budget still filtering through, rising inflation is becoming inevitable." She warned that if the Government loaded more costs onto the retail sector at this year's Autumn Budget, food inflation could rise even more with "hardworking families" having to pay higher prices at the tills. Two-thirds of 52 leading retailers surveyed by the BRC in January said they were considering raising prices due to the Government's tax raid. Which retailers have warned of price hikes? The boss of M&S said the supermarket would have to pass on extra costs due to the National Insurance and minimum wage hikes. Stuart Machin said any price rises would be 'small and behind the market' but did not say how much they would go up by. Meanwhile, Sainsbury's warned the Budget would cost it an extra £140million. Its CEO Simon Roberts warned that the chain would need to work with its suppliers to minimise the impact on customers. Next also warned its costs would increase by £67million, some of which would need to be passed on to shoppers. It warned that sales growth would pull back sharply until the end of 2025, 'as employer tax increases, and their potential impact on prices and employment, begin to filter through in the economy'. RETAIL PAIN IN 2025 Chief consumer reporter James Flanders explains what could happen to retailers this year. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
The Interview Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of Shoprite Holdings: we have a purpose to help people survive
Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of South Africa's largest supermarket group Shoprite Holdings, is interviewed by Jewel Kiriungi, BBC Africa Business Correspondent. His company employs 163,000 people, the largest in the country's private sector, with three thousand stores across nine African countries. Pieter Engelbrecht describes to Jewel how he believes the company helps people on low incomes by producing food at prices they can afford, in a country where a quarter of all South Africa children don't eat enough protein. He says they have a purpose to help people survive. He talks about the success of the company's loyalty card programme and how everything they do is data driven. He says he sees potential to grow the business in South Africa and beyond despite Shoprite having closed its operation in several parts of the continent, including Nigeria and Kenya. (Image: Pieter Engelbrecht, Credit: Getty Images/Bloomberg)
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trump closer to new travel ban for two more countries
The State Department is rolling out a yearlong pilot program that will require certain travelers looking for US tourism or business visas to pay a significant bond, hoping to stop people from overstaying their welcome. It's a decision that could make the process unaffordable for aspiring visitors - and force them to rethink their plans altogether. The department outlined the new 'visa bond' initiative this week, which targets countries with high rates of visa overstays. The list will first apply to nationals of Malawi and Zambia applying for a tourist visa, but could be amended throughout the program to consider other countries. The pair of African countries were targeted first because they have a high rate of unauthorized overstays. According to State Department officials, the bond could reach as much as $15,000 per person, though officers will typically set the amount at $10,000 per adult and $5,000 per child. The amount will be determined during the visa interview. The department adds that the bond payment will be returned if the applicants comply with all of the terms set in the visa. The Daily Mail reached out to both embassies for a reaction to this move, and learned that they were not communicated with by either the White House or State Department on the changes. The Republic of Zambia Minister of Foreign Affairs Mulambo Haimbe told the Daily Mail, 'The Zambian government views this development with serious concern, given its potential economic implications on trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. This includes the unnecessary financial strain on Zambian Nationals.' The Minister added, 'The decision is contrary to the spirit of the meeting held with His Excellency, Mr. Michael Gonzales, Ambassador of the United States of America to Zambia, at State House in Lusaka on July 9, 2025, which centered on exploring new pathways to deepen the enduring partnership between the two nations,' adding that they are now taking immediate steps to engage with the US government through diplomatic channels. The Malawi office of the Ambassador also responded to the Daily Mail, saying, 'The Embassy has not been officially informed about this trending news. As such, the Embassy has no comment at this point.' David Bier, director of immigration studies at the CATO Institute, told the Daily Mail the policy is 'incoherent' and amounts to an admission 'it will likely just ban people from coming, not just result in compliance.' 'There is no reason to impose such a draconian rule,' Bier added.
