Consumer spending surged to a six-month high in August as tourists flocked to UK high streets to take advantage of the weak pound, according to the CBI.

The latest figures from the business lobby group add to growing signs that consumers appear to have shrugged off initial fears that the vote to leave the EU would lead to an immediate slowdown (The Times £).

35% of retailers said sales volumes were up in August compared with a year earlier, while 26% said they were down. It gave a balance of +9%, rebounding from -14% in July. It was far better than the -12% predicted by retailers. (The Guardian)

“Are discounters penny-wise or pound-foolish?” asks The Times (£) in its series of articles looking at the UK retail market. “After enjoying boom times for many years, the value stores are facing fight for survival,” it writes. (The Times £)

PizzaExpress has suffered lukewarm sales over the past year, as the private equity-owned restaurant chain continues to be hit by consumers opting against eating out (The Financial Times £, The Times £). But Pizza Express sales jumped 14.1% in the past year as appetite for Italian-style pizza among diners in Asia helped counter a “challenging market environment” in the UK (The Telegraph).

Brexit is pushing up the price of a bacon butty as China exploits the weak pound to hoover up British pork amid its own domestic shortage. China’s farming industry has been devastated by severe flooding, which has forced suppliers to look further afield for their pork. (The Guardian)

Hundreds of drivers for UberEats, Uber’s food delivery service, plan to take to London’s streets on Friday in strike action over low pay, as unrest among workers in the “on-demand” economy grows (The Financial Times £). The action comes after more than 100 moped riders and cyclists took to the streets to protest against pay changes at rival food courier service Deliveroo, eventually seeing off an attempt to force them to accept new pay terms. (The Guardian)

Ahold Delhaize, the Dutch-Belgian supermarket group that completed a €25bn merger last month, posted a strong jump in operating profit during its final quarter as two separate operating companies after cutting prices to gain market share in the US. (The Financial Times £)

New incontinence products help Kimberly-Clark boost sales, writes The Financial Times (£). Eradicating the stigma associated with the condition is key to accelerating growth.

David Sainsbury has emerged as Britain’s biggest political donor after giving more than £2m each to Labour and the Liberal Democrats in the months before the EU referendum. (The Financial Times £)

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