1 week Ago By Ashley Armstrong
THE boss of Aldi has signalled cost of living pressures are easing as groceries become cheaper and shoppers start treating themselves to steaks. Giles Hurley said he’s aware households are still finding it tough — so Aldi is still cutting prices to ensure a basket of groceries is cheaper than last year. The chief executive of the discount supermarket chain said: “Aldi is the only supermarket not inflating prices and we are lower on average than a year ago.
” He said it’s committed to being the UK’s cheapest grocer and had invested almost £100 million in cutting prices on 300 items. Overall, Aldi said it would invest £800 million in the UK this year. That comes alongside a jump in profits to £536.
7 million from £152.6 million — after sales grew by 16 per cent to £18 billion in the year to December 2023. READ MORE ON ALDI It also plans to open another 23 stores this year as part of its target to have at least 1,500 shops in the UK.
Aldi’s rebound in profit comes after its bottom line came under pressure when food inflation rocketed and it still invested heavily in winning over shoppers from rivals. Mr Hurley added that while all its rivals had some form of Aldi Price Match, “the only way to guarantee Aldi prices is shopping at Aldi ”. And he noted customers are now trading up to its premium “Specially Selected” range.
Most read in Business He said: “It’s still tough for millions of families but inflationary pressures are easing for some. “For others, it’ll be a decision to trade up to restaurant quality meals at home instead of eating out.” Aldi’s Specially Selected range includes £4.
99 Wagyu steaks and £2.59 baking camembert. GILES Hurley says there are still plenty of towns without an Aldi store.
The Aldi boss joined business leaders in urging the Government to deliver planning reforms — to speed up the time it takes to build new stores and create jobs. Rampant store openings have powered Aldi’s UK growth. It has overtaken Morrisons as the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket.
If Asda’s woes continue, Aldi might not have to do much to leapfrog them. OMG TGI plunge THE future of TGI Fridays is in doubt after its UK owner said it would be winding itself up by the end of the month. Analysts warned it could be “game over” for the business amid fears it could be the final nail in the coffin for the restaurant brand.
TGI is owned in the UK by Hostmore, a London - listed company owning 87 of the restaurants, run by franchisees. Shares in Hostmore crashed by 90 per cent yesterday after it revealed its plans to take over the US owner of TGI Fridays for £177million had collapsed. Hostmore no longer has access to the TGI Fridays name, but the restaurants will keep trading for now.
Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell, said: “It’s effectively game over for Hostmore as a listed business.” ASDA workers staged protests yesterday to mark the start of their equal pay employment tribunal. More than 60,000 Asda workers have taken a long-running battle to court amid claims female shop staff were paid less than their mostly male warehouse colleagues.
It comes just weeks after Next lost a similar employment tribunal. Asda’s case will likely be decided next year and could result in a £1.2billion hit.
Shop tax miss not so sweet HMRC is not doing enough to tackle the scourge of tax-dodging American candy shops, the National Audit Office has said. Tax evasion cost the Exchequer £5.5billion last year, the watchdog said, and of that £4.
4billion was driven by small firms. The NAO said the taxman had “significant gaps” in its checks and was not making enough use of its powers which meant it had “lacked an effective response”. The NAO called out American candy shops as “high risk”.
It said: “Stakeholders and correspondents have raised concerns with us.” An explosion of garish American candy shops opened across British high streets during the pandemic and have since been linked with money laundering and unpaid business rate bills . MOST business leaders will be put off hiring staff as a result of the government’s Employment Rights Bill, an Institute of Directors poll said.
Some 57 per cent of the 715 respondents would be less likely to do so due to the proposed legislation which includes “day one” employee rights, the right to switch off as well as simpler union recognition processes. More than a third said it would have no impact, 2.2 per cent said they would be more likely to hire and 5 per cent said the reforms didn’t apply.
Grey belt build BARRATT Developments has joined forces with Lloyds Bank and government agency Homes England to build thousands of new homes. The group said some buildings would be on land that has become eligible since Labour’s new “grey belt” housing reform. The three organisations will provide £50million of funding each to launch Made Partnership, which will concentrate on large projects such as “new garden village-style communities”.
The venture is expected to last for at least 20 years. READ MORE SUN STORIES BURBERRY saw its value sink five per cent to £2billion yesterday, a 15-year low. The share price fall came after Barclays analysts raised doubts on the UK firm’s ability “to remain a high-end luxury brand”.
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