Cash machine network LINK has published its latest data showing how people are responding to the increase in the cost of living and managing their day-to-day finances.
The research shows that 90 per cent of adults in the UK intend to do something to save money, with almost two-fifths (39%) intend to stop eating at restaurants or ordering takeaways, whilst a similar number (38%) say they plan to reduce the cost of their electricity bills and purchase value brands and/or yellow label goods as part of their food shop.
The study is part of the research LINK is undertaking over the past two years to understand how cash use is changing in response to Covid-19. While most people and businesses are beginning to move on from the pandemic, the latest research, conducted in June, identified certain changes in attitudes to cash use in the wake of the rising cost of living in the UK.
According to the survey, one in ten plans to save money by using contactless less and 9 per cent intend to use cash more frequently. For this latter group, the most popular reasons for intending to use cash more frequently were that doing so gives them a better idea of how much they’re spending (63%), helps them to spend less (58%), helps them to keep track of spending (57%), and helps with budgeting (57%).
Some 5 per cent plan to spread payments over a credit card and just over a third (36%) plan to postpone expensive purchases. A third (33%) intend to use their car less to reduce fuel costs and over a quarter (28%) intend to cancel a TV or gym subscription.
Respondents have also highlighted their concern and regular interaction with fraudsters. Almost a quarter (22%) of adults in the UK have received a phone call or text message, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, that has attempted to defraud them.
In relation to cash, 68 per cent of adults in the UK have used cash in the past two weeks to pay for something. This is slightly lower than in February (71%) when the research was last conducted.
Additionally, people continue to experience situations where they want to use cash but cannot. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) said they'd recently preferred to use cash in a shop but instead used a card because the venue discouraged cash payments. Furthermore, over 17 per cent said they could not buy what they wanted because the business was no longer accepting cash.
“There really is a digital divide for those who are and aren’t comfortable using digital payments,” Graham Mott, Director of Strategy at LINK, commented.
“For some, card and digital payments mean they can track all their spending online or on the mobile banking. Yet, for many, especially those on fixed or lower incomes, there is no better substitute for budgeting to cash. Not everyone has access to cards or digital payments and they know exactly how much money they have when paying in cash for the bus or in the local shop.
“We are also expecting the government to publish the Access to Cash legislation soon. This will be important to making sure that every community has access to cash on their local high street.”
Cost-cautious Britons are spending more on home-cooked meals, risking to bring inflation back to grocery stores, a recent report has stated.
According to research by Retail Economics and NatWest, UK consumers expect to be spending more money on in the next three months on groceries while less on eating and drinking out.
It reflects a social phenomenon stemming back to the pandemic when people got into the habit of attempting restaurant-quality meals at home. Supermarkets subsequently put more effort into their premium ranges and have profited from a boom in demand.
Richard Lim, chief executive officer at Retail Economics, also said that Britain’s grocers should be able to reap the rewards of strong demand for high quality, niche and premium ranges, while keeping a lid on the price of more basic products.
“Grocers really need to focus on being competitive across those core essentials and then they will try to protect margins in other parts of the basket,” Lim said. “There might be deflation in some areas, inflation in other areas.”
Last week, supermarket Asda , slashed prices on 1,500 products in an effort to win back droves of customers who have switched to its rivals.
However, Bloomberg analysts state that price wars are "not necessarily incompatible with rising inflation", when broader economic conditions lift cost pressures.
Charles Allen, a senior retail analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said one of the fiercest price wars in the UK came during the high inflation of the late 1970s.
With the upcoming sharp increase in employment taxes and another steep hike in the minimum wage, retailers are expected to pass on some costs to customers, hence increase prices.
Supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Tesco together employ nearly half a million workers, and collectively the two supermarkets are facing an extra £390 million bill due to the budget measures, states the Bloomberg report.
“They’ve had many rounds of trying to operate as efficiently as possible in order to minimise prices for the consumer,” Jessica Moulton, senior partner at McKinsey, said. “The grocers are at their limits.”
Food inflation accelerated to 3.3 per cent in the year to January, and market surveys suggest it stayed high in recent weeks.
UK's newest buying group The Wholesale Group held its first tradeshow since its launch in January 2025 which saw supplier partners and members come together to plan for future growth.
Held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Thursday (20), the event saw more than 190 supplier partners meet with more than 180 wholesale members.
“The tradeshow exceeded all our expectations and was a fantastic success with incredibly high levels of attendance,” said Jess Douglas, joint managing director.
“The new venue and the event itself really demonstrate the scale and diversity of The Wholesale Group.
“To see so many members and suppliers come together to discuss plans for the coming months, share the latest product innovation and take advantage of our on-the-day deals was wonderful.
"The energy throughout the day and evening was incredible and a great way to cement our plans for the group moving forwards.”
Coral Rose, The Wholesale Group co-chair, agreed: “We are delighted with the tremendous turnout of members for the show, all proudly representing independent family-owned businesses in foodservice and retail wholesale. The event successfully generated significant value to all these businesses demonstrating our collecting scale while creating valuable connections with our suppliers.”
“Events like this really are invaluable,” said Kate Robinson, regional account manager, Unilever Food Solutions UK.
“This industry thrives on face-to-face interaction and meeting with members in person to plan for the future and share our latest product development always provides critical insight.”
Dan Dunster, national account manager, CCEP, said, “What a fantastic event and an excellent venue. We were able to have several good business discussions with members and for me as account manager for The Wholesale Group, it is so effective to be face to face.
"This is such a valuable use of our time as both the day and the evening were great opportunities to build on relationships. It was amazing to see members and suppliers recognised for their work.”
Following the tradeshow, The Wholesale Group held a formal black-tie dinner where it presented awards to suppliers and members in recognition of engagement and performance with Confex during 2024.
Thompson Foodservice Ltd achieved double success as it was named Foodservice Member of the Year as well as Green Wholesaler of the Year.
“The Wholesale Group Awards showcased the best of independent wholesale,” said Tom Gittins, joint managing director.
“Across the board we saw outstanding achievements from both our members and suppliers with awards spanning retail and foodservice across all product categories, with winners represented across delivered, cash and carry, export, direct to consumer, residual and events.
:These awards remind me how lucky we are to have such a strong group with best-in-class partners, the perfect recipe for future growth.”
Later in the year, The Wholesale Group will be holding a foodservice fair in Stratford upon Avon on 11 September and an annual conference in Tenerife, from 9-12 October.
The Wholesale Group now has 257 members and a group turnover in excess of £4.5bn, representing more than 13.7 per cent of UK wholesale.
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RH Amar Expands with New 94,756 Sq Ft HQ in High Wycombe
RH Amar has signed a deal which will see it move to a new 94,756 sq ft state-of the-art facility in High Wycombe at the end of the year.
The move follows a period of significant growth and expansion for the UK food distributor and growth partner which has seen it achieve double-digit growth in each of the past five years, with new business wins including Weetabix, Dr. Oetker and Divine Chocolate.
The new home for the third-generation family business will provide a high-specification facility with increased warehouse capacity and more office space, while continuing to provide the excellent transport links of its current HQ less than a mile from M40 Junction 4 on the outskirts of High Wycombe.
“We are excited to be a step forward to a new headquarters which will enable us to further build on the success we’ve achieved with our brand partners and customers," said MD Rob Amar. "The premises are being purpose-built to support our expanding operations and will provide the foundation we need to realise our long-term growth ambitions and those of our brand partners.
He added, “As we celebrate 80 years in business, this move is a significant milestone in the history of our family business, and we look forward to calling this new building our home at the end of the year.”
The sustainable headquarters have been designed to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating, EPC A+ scores, and will be net zero carbon in construction – all underpinning RH Amar’s commitment to being a sustainable business.
RH Amar works with some of the UK’s best-loved food names, including Del Monte, Mutti and Weetabix, alongside smaller specialist brands - working in partnership to successfully grow brands across the UK market with distribution, sales, marketing and technical support and expertise.
RH Amar’s new premises are owned by Railpen, manager of the £34bn railways pension scheme in the UK. The state-of-the-art facility is being rebranded to High Wycombe X, joining Railpen’s growing portfolio of X-branded industrial parks. RH Amar will be the anchor occupier for the new development, situated on High Wycombe’s wider Cressex Estate.
Banks, hotels, ATMs and pubs are facing a cash shortage as more than 1,000 G4S workers vote to strike over a real terms pay cut.
GMB members deliver money to companies such as NatWest, Lloyds Santander, Tesco, Asda, Wetherspoons, McDonalds and Travelodge.
Workers have voted to strike with a majority of 91 per cent, on a 59 per cent turnout.
The industrial action comes after workers were offered a deal as low as 1.4 per cent in some cases, while G4S’s directed competitor Loomis offered workers 4.6 per cent earlier this year.
Strikes could take place as early as the Easter bank holiday, with business and ATMs potentially left without cash, while airports may run out of foreign currency.
“These workers do a difficult and dangerous job – yet the company is only offering them a real terms pay cut," said Eamon O’Hearn, GMB National Officer, said:
"It’s no wonder they are willing to strike.
“Now thanks to G4S penny pinching, the public faces an Easter break where businesses and banks run out of cash, potentially causing major disruption.”
Tighter and tougher protections to protect children and communities from illicit tobacco and vapes have been unveiled on Sunday (22) as the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill moves closer to creating a smokefree UK.
A new £10 million boost for Trading Standards will bolster operations in local communities for the next year, to fund an expected 80 more apprentice enforcement officers to stop harmful tobacco and vape products finding their way into neighbourhood shops and stopping underage sales.
Officers work closely with local police to take down organised crime groups that operate within networks to supply illegal vapes. Trading Standards plays a key role, operating targeted seizures and sending sniffer dogs to hunt down illicit vapes hidden in shops.
The package builds on robust measures in place to tackle illicit tobacco and vapes, including HMRC and Border Force’s £100 million Illicit Tobacco Strategy to crack down on illegal tobacco.
Alongside this, the new vaping duty (which will come into force in 2026) will introduce new civil and criminal powers, giving them the ability to seize products and recruit over 200 additional compliance staff.
This new funding sits alongside the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which will create the world’s first smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan 1 2009 and toughening laws to protect children from addiction.
The Bill will also introduce new £200 on the spot fines in England and Wales for breaches of age of sale restrictions, alongside powers to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This action delivers on the government’s Plan for Change to create an NHS fit for the future by focusing on the crucial role prevention can take in cutting waiting lists, while also making our streets safer by tackling organised crime.
Minister for Public Health and Prevention Ashley Dalton said, "Buying illicit tobacco and vapes may save a few pennies in your pocket, but they can be incredibly dangerous and are often linked to criminal activity.
"It’s vital the Tobacco and Vapes Bill moves forward so we can tackle this illicit trade and free our children from a life imprisoned by addiction.
"By phasing out tobacco, introducing new restrictions on vapes and putting more boots on our streets, we’re taking the concrete action needed to deliver our Plan for Change and bring us that one step closer to a healthier, smoke-free future.”
John Herriman, Chief Executive at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said, "CTSI is very welcoming of the announcement of substantial funding for Trading Standards services across England.
"This much-needed investment will strengthen our ability to support businesses in complying with current and future tobacco and vaping regulations and will also ensure we are well placed to support the protection of public health.
"It also reinforces our commitment to taking firm action against anyone who seeks to harm their local communities by choosing to operate outside the law.
"With these additional resources, we can make a real difference in both keeping consumers safe, and ensuring a fair and responsible marketplace.
Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, said, "Illicit tobacco and vape products are prevalent in our communities, trapping people – including children and young people – in a dangerous cycle of addiction that could endure for another generation.
"The scourge of illicit nicotine products are largely powered by organised crime, and the products represent an important money-spinner that help fund organised crime groups’ other illegal schemes, such as human trafficking and modern slavery.
"While Trading Standards seized more than a million illegal vapes, 19 million counterfeit cigarettes and 5,103kg of illicit hand rolling tobacco last year, further action and resources are needed by enforcement bodies to disrupt supply and clamp down on the perpetrators.
"The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is an important step in the right direction, providing more resources to a stretched Trading Standards workforce who, alongside other enforcement partners, are working hard to help the government meet its aims for a smoke-free generation."