Soaring cost of groceries is leaving shoppers with mental health concerns

THE soaring cost of grocery items is leaving shoppers with mental health concerns.

Consumer group WHICH? said a quarter of people have been hit by mental health issues as they fight to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

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Meanwhile, a quarter say rising prices have also hit their hopes of eating healthily. Worried MPs have summoned bosses from four major supermarkets to grill them today on food and fuel price inflation.

Last week’s inflation figures revealed that grocery prices rose 18.4 per cent in the last year. Which? research showed that everyday family meals like pasta bake, fish fingers and chips and spaghetti bolognese have gone up 27 per cent over the last 12 months.

One in five people said they had lost sleep over food costs while another one in five said their physical health had also deteriorated. A third of women said their mental health had been affected.

“Women and young parents are among the worst affected and are asking how much more of this they can take,” said Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy.

She said the Government must urgently get supermarkets to commit to stocking essential budget ranges in all their stores and make pricing much clearer so shoppers can compare prices and find the best value products.

The Bank of England suggested last week that some retailers are increasing prices or failing to pass on lower costs to consumers to increase their profit margins at a time of stubborn inflation.

MPs will hope supermarket chiefs will have some answers. The key question that will be asked is: “When will we see prices fall?”

Facing MPs questions today will be Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury’s, Kris Comerford, chief commercial officer at Asda, David Potts, CEO at Morrisons, and Gordon Gafa, commercial director at Tesco.

Licence to kilowatt

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SHARES in luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda accelerated up 11 per cent yesterday after it revealed it has moved closer to producing its first battery vehicle.

The iconic firm has signed a £200million cash and shares deal with US group Lucid to make “ultra-luxury high-performance electric vehicles”, with the first due off the production line by 2025.

Lucid will be a 3.7 per cent shareholder in the Warwickshire-based carmaker, which famously provided James Bond with his wheels.

In return, Lucid will provide powertrain components, including engines, axles, driveshafts and differentials.

Aston’s first plug-in hybrid, the Valhalla (above), is due next year.

Aston Martin boss Lawrence Stroll said: “This is a game-changer for the future EV-led growth of Aston Martin.”

Move for admins by cinemas

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TROUBLED cinema chain Cineworld will file for administration in the UK next month as part of a restructuring plan which could help save the firm.

That is bad news for shareholders who will see the value of their holdings wiped out.

But it is good news for film fans as it means the chain’s screens will remain open — at least for now.

The world’s second-largest cinema chain — which also owns the Picturehouse brand — has 128 cinemas across the UK and Ireland.

The company has been hit by massive debt and weaker-than-hoped audience figures.

Its shares fell by a quarter yesterday but have already slumped around 99 per cent in the past five years.

A statement said: “Cineworld continues to operate its global business and cinemas as usual without interruption and this will not be affected by the entry of Cineworld Group plc into administration.”

HSBC set for move

HSBC is set to ditch its landmark 45-storey Canary Wharf office for a new location.

The building has become one of the leading sights in the London Docklands in the past 15 years.

But the bank has revealed plans to move to a smaller base near St Paul’s in the capital and hopes to leave its tower in Canada Square by 2027.

Leaving the site is part of plans to downsize the firm’s office space in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Summer hots up Primark

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KEEPING prices keen has helped sales at Primark owner ABF leap 16 per cent in the past three months as shoppers snapped up summer gear, such as swimming and festival ranges.

Eoin Tonge, ABF’s finance director, told The Sun: “We decided to take a hit on our margins rather than raise prices completely because we thought that was the right thing to do.”

Sales climbed to £4.7billion in the three months to the end of May, helping the company to predict higher profits for the year.

The business expanded its Liverpool store last week and said it has more activities lined up for later in the year.

Primark has 191 stores in the UK, while ABF has shops in 16 regions across the world.

Mr Tonge said: “The world is still a little bit challenging, it’s tough out there for consumers.”

He warned there is still quite a bit of price volatility.

IKEA will stop selling chocolate bars and sweets owned by MONDELEZ, the company behind CADBURY. The move comes as Scandinavian businesses boycott the chocolate-maker’s products over tax it paid to the Russian government last year.

PwC Oz’s business for 50p

PWC AUSTRALIA is to sell its government business for just 50p after it was hit by scandal over the misuse of confidential government tax plans.

The business’s £134million worth of government contracts will be handed to private equity firm Allegro Funds.

Acting boss Kristin Stubbins said: “We have failed the standards we set for ­ourselves as an organisation, and I apologise on behalf of our firm.”

PwC Australia’s government business has about 1,750 staff and accounts for around a fifth of its annual revenue.

 It emerged in January that a former partner of the firm had leaked classified information about potential tax avoidance laws between 2014 and 2017.

Colleagues used the info to pitch to potential clients.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk