UK bakery chain Greggs has said sales in its big city outlets are “unlikely” ever to return to pre-Covid levels, in the latest sign of a fundamental shift in work and living patterns as a result of the pandemic (The Financial Times £).
Roger Whiteside, the outgoing chief executive of the bakery chain, said transaction numbers in city centres were 10% below pre-Covid levels (The Guardian). “There are less people going to offices and less people going shopping. I suspect it will never go back to the numbers pre-Covid, although it might get a bit better,” he said.
Fewer office workers in city centres are weighing on sales at Greggs, although the bakery chain said that strong growth of its hot food ranges and at its railway shops meant performance was still in line with expectations (The Times £).
Greggs has warned of rising cost pressures, but left its full-year outlook unchanged as sales of chicken goujons and potato wedges helped boost trade (The Mail).
Britain’s petrol retailers have been accused of profiteering from the energy crisis after research found they had failed to pass on nearly half of Rishi Sunak’s 5p fuel duty cut (The Times £).
Tesco is to hand pig farmers £6.6m in additional support, taking the total to £10m, after warnings that a slew of producers could go out of business (The Guardian).
Britain faces an “apocalyptic” rise in food prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as households are hit by a “very real income shock”, the governor of the Bank of England has warned (The Times £).
Countries such as Egypt and Tunisia rely heavily on exports of Ukraine’s wheat and cooking oil, and the governor said his concerns about food supplies had been heightened after speaking to Kyiv’s finance minister at last month’s IMF meeting in Washington (The Guardian).
Wheat prices rose by the maximum amount allowed on Monday after India imposed a ban on exports, stoking pressure on food costs as tight global supplies roiled international markets (The Financial Times £).
An opinion piece in The Financial Times (£) argues that food insecurity crisis is a bigger problem than energy. “A global food shortage is pushing food prices to record levels, with economic and political implications for developed countries and a threat of famine and debt distress in the emerging world. Much more must be done.”
Andrew Bailey sought to defend the Bank of England’s control of inflation on Monday, with the governor telling MPs that criticism of the central bank relied significantly on “hindsight” (The Financial Times £).
The Bank of England is facing its biggest test of credibility in 25 years of independence, its governor has admitted as inflation heads above 10% (The Times £).
The UK’s unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest in nearly 50 years with more vacancies than unemployed people in the economy for the first time on record (The Times £).
McDonald’s is to sell its Russian business, two months after temporarily closing its restaurants in the country as part of the exodus of western companies in response to the invasion of Ukraine (The Financial Times £).
McDonald’s is pulling out of Russia after more than 30 years of selling milkshakes and hamburgers in the country, taking a $1.4bn (£1.1bn) hit from the decision (The Telegraph).
The fast food operator said the humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s invasion and the unpredictable operating environment meant continuing running restaurants in the country was “no longer tenable” or “consistent with McDonald’s values” (The Guardian).
McDonald’s said that it was seeking a local buyer and would make job security for its 62,000 employees part of any sale agreement (The Times £).
UK prime minister Boris Johnson said a “sensible” solution to a dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland with the EU is possible ahead of a trip to the region on Monday, but he reiterated that London would act unilaterally if Brussels did not budge (The Financial Times £).
Tens of thousands of apprenticeships could be created and hundreds of millions of pounds saved if the flawed apprenticeships levy were reformed, according to a survey of members by the British Retail Consortium (The Times £).
The Big Read in The Financial Times (£) looks at the rise, fall and rebirth of the shopping centre. “The decline of bricks-and-mortar retail has been a catastrophe for malls. But landlords and local authorities are trying to ensure they have a future.”
Archer Daniels Midland is partnering with a lab-grown meat start-up as the US agricultural trader expands its alternative protein business, further diversifying the company beyond trading and processing agricultural commodities (The Financial Times £).
The baby formula maker Abbott has reached an agreement with US health regulators to restart production at its largest domestic factory amid a nationwide formula shortage that has left shelves bare and parents scrambling (The Guardian).
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