Taking Stock on Tuesday 3rd October 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
Food prices see first fall for two years...
Fierce competition between supermarkets has led to the first monthly drop in food prices for more than two years, an industry body has said.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said prices in September were down 0.1% from the previous month.
Prices of dairy goods, margarine, fish and vegetables - which are often own-brand lines - all saw falls, it said.
Grocery inflation - the annual rate at which food prices are rising - remains high but is starting to ease.
The BRC said food prices rose by 9.9% in the year to September, down from a rate of 11.5% in August.
Overall shop price inflation - which includes non-food items - fell to 6.2% last month, the lowest rate for a year.
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
Greggs has revealed it could make a fresh bid to launch overseas, 15 years after it abandoned a foray into Belgium to concentrate on the UK market.
The company's chief executive said that any expansion abroad would start with a number of small trials.
Roisin Currie was speaking after the company - best-known for its sausage rolls, steak bakes, vegan snacks and sweet treats - reported a 14.2% rise in like-for-like sales at its managed shops during the 13 weeks to 30 September.
Total sales were almost 21% higher, also compared to the same period a year earlier.
Easy life: Band says easyJet owner suing over name
A band has said it is being forced to change its name by the owners of easyJet, who have started legal action against them.
Easy life said the airline's parent company easyGroup was suing them because its name was too similar.
The Leicester band said it was certain it had never affected the company's business.