Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Soaring prices dampen UK Ramadan celebrations

Soaring prices dampen UK Ramadan celebrations
A customer shops for goods inside Taj Stores in east London on March 31, 2023. (Photo by SUSANNAH IRELAND/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images

Despite the enticing produce in their windows, Muslim-owned retailers on east London's Brick Lane are unusually quiet as a cost-of-living crisis bites into Ramadan earnings.

The historic street is the hub of London's Bangladeshi community, and normally a vibrant destination for shoppers during the Islamic holy month, which in Britain started on the evening of March 22.


But this year, Muslim and other customers are paring back on non-essentials, according to Taj Stores co-owner Jamal Khalique, who has had to put up his prices to keep pace with double-digit inflation.

"This makes it a bit more difficult for people already suffering from high costs of living," said the 51-year-old, who sells everything from fresh produce and halal meat to South Asian sweets and snacks.

People are "purchasing what they need, necessities, not extra things like they normally do", Khalique added.

GettyImages 1250781181 Taj Stores owner Jamal Khalique poses for a photograph inside his shop in east London on March 31, 2023. (Photo by SUSANNAH IRELAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Business is also depressed across the road at Rajmahal Sweets, which would normally be bustling with shoppers picking out Iftar treats to break the daily fast.

"People have no money because of this crisis," said Rajmahal worker Ali, who declined to give his last name.

Customers who once bought two to three kilograms (4.4-6.6 pounds) now only purchase a half-kilo of offerings like jalebis - swirls of deep-fried batter soaked in syrup - and sugar-dusted Turkish delight.

England and Wales are home to nearly four million Muslims, and just under 40 percent of them live in the most deprived areas, according to census data released last year.

That makes the cost-of-living crisis particularly painful for communities such as those around Brick Lane, one of the poorest parts of London.

Supermarkets muscle in

A November 2022 survey by the campaign group Muslim Census found that nearly one in five British Muslims were relying on handouts from charitable food banks.

"It's shocking to see how dependent people are becoming on food banks," said Sahirah Javaid of Muslim Hands, a charity that runs two community kitchens in London and the English Midlands city of Nottingham.

"Food poverty makes Muslims unable to break their fast with their community," she added.

Huzana Begum, 27, is one of those feeling the pinch.

"Before, if we brought £20 here, we would get everything. It's very expensive now," she said, browsing the shelves of Brick Lane's Zaman Brothers store, boxes of spice mix in hand.

While Begum has tried to cut down on groceries in general, Ramadan poses a unique challenge.

Iftar meals after sunset bring together relatives and communities, and she is hosting and cooking for extended family including cousins.

That means spending rather than saving.

"We have a plan, me and my husband, every month we can save money from my work and from his salary as well. But this month, we can't," said Begum.

GettyImages 1250781351 A worker checks the stock inside Taj Stores in east London on March 31, 2023. (Photo by SUSANNAH IRELAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Independent retailers such as those on Brick Lane are seeing more competition from supermarket giants like Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda, which have been targeting Muslims with their own Ramadan ranges.

"They can afford to slash their prices. We can't. So obviously, they do divert the customers to them," Khalique of Taj Stores said.

"We've been established since 1936, I've been in the family business for 34 years, and I've never felt hardship in my life. But I'm feeling it now," he added.

"If this continues, God knows if we can carry on."

More for you

A woman enters the Selfridges department store

A woman enters the Selfridges department store on December 13, 2024 in London, England

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail faces mixed fortunes in 2025 amid cost pressures, AI opportunities, and high street revival


The UK retail sector is bracing for a challenging but opportunity-filled 2025, according to Jacqui Baker, head of retail at RSM UK. While the industry grapples with rising costs and heightened crime, advancements in artificial intelligence and a revival of the high street offer potential pathways to growth, she said.

Keep ReadingShow less
unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Photo: Southend-on-Sea City Council

1,100 unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend safety crackdown

Southend-on-Sea City Council officials have secured food condemnation orders from Chelmsford Magistrates Court, resulting in the seizure and destruction of 1,100 unauthorised soft drinks.

The condemned drinks, including Mountain Dew, 7-UP, Mirinda, and G Fuel energy drinks, were found during routine inspections of food businesses across Southend by the council’s environmental health officers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London

A customer browses clothes inside Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London on, December 17, 2024

Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Brits kindle Christmas spirit with second-hand gifts

Bursting with customers one afternoon the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London's Marylebone High Street looked even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it.

One man grabbed two puzzle sets and a giant plush toy as a present for friends, another picked out a notebook for his wife.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Lancashire Mind’s 11th Mental Elf fun run was its biggest and best yet – a sell-out event with more than 400 people running and walking in aid of the mental charity, plus dozens more volunteering to make the day a huge success.

The winter sun shone on Worden Park in Leyland as families gathered for either a 5K course, a 2K run, or a Challenge Yours’Elf distance which saw many people running 10K with the usual running gear replaced with jazzy elf leggings, tinsel and Christmas hats.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale, on December 13, 2024 in London, England.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail sales disappoint before Christmas

UK retail sales rose less than expected in the runup to Christmas, according to official data Friday that deals a fresh blow to government hopes of growing the economy.

Separate figures revealed a temporary reprieve for prime minister Keir Starmer, however, as public borrowing fell sharply in November.

Keep ReadingShow less