Swedish furniture giant Ikea is cutting prices across a range of popular products in Europe, including the Billy bookcase and Kallax storage units, to woo cash-strapped customers.

Ikea has seen revenue decline over the past two years as the rising cost of living reduces people’s ability to invest in new furniture and home renovations.

The company is spending €1.2bn (£1bn) on the price cuts, which represent reductions of up to 28% on certain products.

Ikea said it could make the cuts by making savings throughout the supply chain, such as packaging costs.

Ingka, the franchisee which operates most of Ikea’s European stores, said the cuts were “not an activity or short-term campaign”.

“It’s about making IKEA more affordable when people need it most, even if it means accepting a lower margin,” said Juvencio Maeztu, chief executive of Ingka. “The cost of living is increasing and it’s getting tougher and tougher for many people.”

He added: “For many people, home is a bedroom in a shared house, and it’s even more important to offer storage and organised solutions.”

Ikea has reduced its prices several times in recent years, even as it caused a hit to the company’s revenue and profit in its most recent earnings report.

The latest specific reductions vary slightly by country. Price cuts for British customers include the Kallax shelving unit going from £60 to £49 and the Billy bookcase being cut by £10 to £25.

Ikea is also trying to attract new customers by opening smaller stores in central areas, such as London’s Oxford Street and Churchill Square in Brighton.

In 2024 it launched its own second-hand online marketplace in a bid to rival sites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace.

Despite a recent uptick, consumer confidence in Europe is at its lowest level for almost three years due to concerns about inflation and the cost of living, according to EU figures. , external

British consumers, meanwhile, are becoming more optimistic about the economy and their own finances, following a truce in the Middle East, but analysts have warned that inflation and the rising cost of living could dent consumer confidence in the coming months.

Ikea operates over 500 stores worldwide under a franchise system.

Many of its minimalist, self-assembled products have become ubiquitous in homes across Europe.

But it has faced criticism from environmentalists for contributing to a culture of disposable furniture and excess packaging.

Bridgend Industrial Park has been acquired

A major industrial park in South Wales is under new ownership.

Manchester-based David Samuel Properties has acquired Bridgend Industrial Park from Zurich Assurance.

The park, close to the M4, provides 300,000 sq ft of warehousing and industrial space with an additional 30 acres of development land. The estate is a mix of large standalone buildings with smaller estates together with ancillary retail and office space.

The park has a strong occupancy rate of 95%.

ACRE London acted on behalf Zurich with the Cardiff investment teams of Fletcher Morgan and Calan acting on behalf David Samuel Properties.

A spokesman for David Samuel Properties said: “This latest acquisition reflects our continued conviction in well-located industrial assets with strong tenant demand, attractive reversionary potential and resilient cashflows.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

David Samuel Properties oversees a portfolio of more than 1,200 units at 150 plus locations across the UK.

Moreover, four commercial property projects in North Wales are set to deliver new industrial and employment space with support from the Wales Commercial Property Fund, managed by the Development Bank of Wales.

Developments in Kinmel Bay, Conwy and Bangor have secured almost £7m from the fund, which will support the delivery of almost 67,000 sq ft of modern commercial space across 32 units.

The projects include new light industrial units at Tir Llwyd Enterprise Park in Kinmel Bay, flexible space at Conwy Morfa Enterprise Park, and two separate schemes at Parc Bryn Cegin in Bangor, one of Gwynedd’s strategic employment sites.

Deputy fund manager Claire Sedgwick and property development executive Rob Good supported K&C Group with the funding for Tir Llwyd Enterprise Park while senior property development executive Anna Bowen delivered the funding for Vectorex in Conwy along with Hillcliff Holdings and Lingar Holdings in Bangor.

Nicola Crocker, property fund manager at the Development Bank of Wales, said:“Across North Wales, we are seeing strong demand for modern, flexible commercial space and a pipeline of experienced developers ready to bring forward high-quality schemes.

“These four projects show how targeted funding can help unlock commercial developments that might otherwise struggle to proceed, creating the space businesses need to grow while supporting construction supply chains and strengthening local economies. From Kinmel Bay and Conwy to Bangor, this investment is helping create practical, high-quality employment space in locations where businesses want to operate.

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Victoria Beckham’s fashion and beauty brand has turned a profit for the first time since it launched in 2008, a milestone delivered in spite of a challenging macroeconomic slump affecting global luxury goods.

Revenue at Victoria Beckham Holdings rose 15 per cent to £129.8 million in the year to the end of December, marking the fifth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth. The company posted a pre-tax profit of £3.38 million, compared with a loss of £4.85 million the year before, while operating profit reached £7.3 million against an operating loss of £1.6 million in the previous year.

The company said on Monday that the improvement in its bottom line was driven by “disciplined cost control, stronger direct-to-consumer trading and an expanding international wholesale presence”.

Sybille Darricarrère Lunel, chief executive of Victoria Beckham, said: “Achieving our first operating profit is a landmark moment and reflects several years of disciplined execution and strategic investment.

“Delivering this result against a more challenging luxury market and macro backdrop makes it an even more significant milestone for the business.”

From £66m of losses into the black

Before its turnaround, the label of the former Spice Girl had accumulated more than £66 million in losses, relying on multimillion-pound cash injections from her husband David Beckham’s personal fortune. Accounts covering 2024 showed the Beckhams and the private equity firm Neo Investment Partners providing a £6.9 million injection, with £3 million meeting working capital needs at the fashion label and £3.9 million building inventory at Victoria Beckham Beauty.

The reasons behind the prolonged struggle were laid bare last year in a Netflix documentary, which revealed a corporate culture in which employees were afraid to tell Beckham “no”, allowing overhead expenses to run out of control.

When David Belhassen, the private equity investor who founded Neo, stepped in to audit the business, he uncovered striking examples of aesthetic perfection put before fiscal reality. The company was spending £70,000 a year on office plants simply because she loved them, while an external contractor was paid a further £15,000 a year just to water them.

Beckham admitted to high-end indulgences born of her entertainment background, such as flying luxury chairs from one side of the world to the other for the office space.

Two chief executives, two cities

The company recruited two new chief executives last year to lead the two sides of the business. Lunel joined as chief executive of the fashion business from Christian Dior Couture last July and is based in London, while Lauren Edelman was promoted from global chief marketing officer to chief executive of the beauty business last January and is based in New York.

The beauty business, launched in 2019, is reported to generate about two-thirds of group revenue. Fellow British beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury reported a £21 million pre-tax profit on sales of £539 million in newly filed accounts covering its own year to the end of December.

The wider luxury sector remains under pressure, however. Burberry is cutting up to 1,700 jobs in a global savings drive after a sharp downturn in the luxury market pushed the British fashion house to a £66 million pre-tax loss.

Amy Ingham

Amy Ingham is a reporter at Business Matters, covering UK business news with a focus on breaking news, business policy, late payments and insolvency. She joined the magazine in 2026 after completing the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Harlow College’s journalism school. Her recent reporting includes British Steel’s nationalisation and its impact on SME suppliers, the decline in late payments by large firms, and Insolvency Service director disqualifications. Reach her at aingham@cbmeg.co.uk.

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Shares of Resolute Mining rose more than 5% Monday, extending a stretch of investor interest in the Perth-based gold producer following a set of half-year results that showed profit more than doubling on the back of surging gold prices.

The stock traded at 1.44 Australian dollars, up 0.07 dollars, or 5.11%, on the Australian Securities Exchange. Resolute, which operates the Syama gold mine in Mali and the Mako mine in Senegal while developing the Doropo project in Cote d’Ivoire, has drawn sustained attention from analysts and investors in the roughly two weeks since it reported its results for the six months ended June 30.

Resolute reported net profit after tax of 162.6 million dollars for the first half of 2026, up 129% from 71 million dollars in the same period a year earlier, according to a summary of the results published by Kalkine Media. Revenue rose 31% to 584.7 million dollars, driven primarily by a sharply higher average realized gold price of 4,712 dollars per ounce, compared with 3,076 dollars per ounce in the first half of 2025, even as overall gold production declined to 104,795 ounces from 151,460 ounces a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 42% to 323.9 million dollars, according to the same figures.

Resolute Chief Executive Officer Chris Eger described the results as reflecting the strength of the company’s underlying operations despite the production decline. “Resolute has delivered a strong first half of 2026, generating significant operating cash flow and ending the period with a net cash position of 317.4 million dollars,” Eger said, according to a company statement carried by TradingView News. “This performance was underpinned by continued strength in the gold price, disciplined cost management and the resilience of both Syama and Mako. During the period we continued to advance our key growth initiatives. At Doropo, the project progressed from final investment decision into active construction, with early works advancing and financing progressing.”

The lower production figures were tied to operational disruptions at the Syama mine, including a planned roaster shutdown, explosives supply interruptions and slower-than-expected mobilization in the mine’s A21 area, according to reporting from Discovery Alert. Those disruptions pushed the company’s all-in sustaining cost up sharply to 2,327 dollars per ounce, a 38% increase from 1,688 dollars per ounce in the first half of 2025, a rise the company attributed to a combination of higher royalty payments tied to elevated gold prices and reduced production volumes.

Resolute’s balance sheet strengthened considerably during the period. Net cash climbed 189% to 317.4 million dollars, up from roughly 109.9 million dollars a year earlier, while operating cash flow more than doubled to 277.6 million dollars. The company also received 31.9 million dollars from the sale of its stake in Loncor Gold and a further 53.9 million dollars from repayment of a vendor financing note tied to its earlier Ravenswood mine transaction, according to figures reported by Kalkine Media.

Beyond its existing operations, Resolute continued advancing its growth pipeline during the period. The company’s ABC Project in northwest Cote d’Ivoire saw its inferred mineral resource estimate grow to 3 million ounces of contained gold, up from 2.16 million ounces a year earlier, according to Stocklight. Resolute has also secured 155 million dollars in local bank financing in Cote d’Ivoire to support the Doropo project’s construction, with an additional 105 million dollars in financing expected to be secured during the third quarter of 2026.

Analysts have responded favorably to the results. According to Simply Wall St, Resolute’s stronger-than-expected profitability has prompted some analysts to argue the stock remains meaningfully undervalued, with certain fair-value estimates suggesting upside of as much as 59% from prior trading levels, even as the firm cautioned that funding requirements and regulatory risk in the company’s West African operating jurisdictions remain factors investors should continue to monitor closely.

Shop price inflation climbed to its highest level in more than two years in August, as retailers began passing higher energy, input and commodity costs on to consumers.

Prices in UK shops rose by 1.5 per cent in the year to August, up sharply from 0.9 per cent in July, according to the latest BRC-NIQ Shop Price Monitor. That is the highest rate for more than two years, although it remains below the headline rate of consumer price inflation. The pace of increase has picked up markedly since shop price inflation slowed to 1.1 per cent in February, when retailers were still cutting prices to tempt cautious shoppers.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “The impact of higher energy, input and commodity costs is beginning to filter through into prices, particularly for ambient foods which are typically imported and processed. In non-food, electrical prices rose amid the ongoing AI boom, which is forcing up the price of memory chips and storage.”

The rise was particularly pronounced in non-food goods such as clothing and electrical items, where inflation accelerated to 0.9 per cent year on year in August, from 0.2 per cent in July. Food inflation also increased, rising to 2.8 per cent from 2.2 per cent.

Within food, there was a clear divergence between fresh and ambient products. Fresh food inflation eased slightly to 3 per cent in August, from 3.1 per cent in July, while inflation on ambient goods, the packaged and long-life products that fill the middle of the store, more than doubled to 2.5 per cent from 1.1 per cent. Chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks and coffee recorded the steepest rises.

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NIQ, said the acceleration in food and non-food inflation was not unexpected as some summer promotions came to an end. He added: “Retailers continue to keep prices low, helping consumers manage rising household costs such as energy and fuel. However, pressures are continuing to build across supply chains, and we can expect price competition to intensify as we move into the autumn months.”

The figures land against a backdrop of rising inflation across the wider economy. The Office for National Statistics reported that consumer price inflation rose to 2.9 per cent in July, up from 2.6 per cent in June, while the CPIH measure, which includes owner occupiers’ housing costs, increased to 3.1 per cent.

Energy is emerging as a particular source of renewed pressure. ONS figures showed inflation in housing and household services jumping to 4.1 per cent in July, from 2.7 per cent the previous month, driven largely by higher gas prices. Gas prices were 14.7 per cent higher than a year earlier, while electricity prices rose 3.6 per cent.

The squeeze is expected to intensify if energy costs stay elevated. The Centre for Economics and Business Research warned this week that the Middle East conflict was likely to strip £70.4 billion from UK households’ real spending power over the next two years, as higher energy prices fuel inflation and weaken wage growth. The consultancy estimated the war in Iran would leave household spending power £1,100 lower than previously expected in 2026 and £1,300 lower in 2027. Economists have separately warned that the conflict could knock £35 billion off UK output and push inflation back above 4 per cent.

For retailers, many of them small and mid-sized businesses already contending with higher wage bills and taxes, the combination of rising supply chain costs and renewed energy pressures threatens to make the autumn a difficult trading period. Dickinson warned that rising operating costs were limiting the industry’s ability to absorb further increases, echoing earlier warnings from retailers that tax rises in the autumn budget would push shop prices higher still.

“The months ahead look challenging for households, with rising bills putting further pressure on budgets,” she said. “Retailers are facing persistently high operating costs, limiting their ability to absorb further increases without impacting investment, jobs and prices. If the government is serious about supporting growth while keeping the cost of living in check, it must address the cost of doing business, including by tackling the growing burden of business rates, packaging and employment taxes.”

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

Aldi has been accused of desperation by senior retail figures after its UK chief executive attacked rival supermarkets’ loyalty schemes, just as industry data showed the discounter’s sales growth slowing sharply behind its competitors.

Giles Hurley, the chief executive of Aldi UK, used a piece in the Daily Mail last week to back the Government’s investigation into supermarket pricing, arguing that loyalty schemes offer shoppers a “false sense of value”. Shoppers, he said, were being bombarded with discounts that could make them believe they were getting a bargain when a rival supermarket was still cheaper.

“Taking £2 off a £6 product doesn’t make it good value if you can buy it for £3 somewhere else,” Hurley said.

The intervention went down badly across the industry. One senior retail adviser said Aldi was “completely talking their own book” by wading into the row over supermarket pricing, which is under investigation by the UK competition watchdog. “It was opportunistic, and in a way, perhaps a little bit desperate,” they said.

The timing is awkward for Aldi. Its sales rose by just 0.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 8 August, according to NIQ, compared with 8.2 per cent at Lidl, 13 per cent at M&S, 17 per cent at Ocado and 3.6 per cent at Sainsbury’s. The slowdown is all the more significant because Aldi has continued opening new shops, with 40 more stores planned for 2026 as part of a £370 million expansion.

Clive Black, of Shore Capital, said the discounter was “protesting a bit too much”. He said: “The fact that customers are choosing to shop more at other retailers tells us something about Aldi, and it’s not just about price.”

Hurley, who joined the retailer nearly 30 years ago, took the top job in 2018 and oversaw the opening of Aldi’s 1,000th UK store in 2023. The company does not operate a loyalty scheme along the lines of Tesco’s Clubcard or Sainsbury’s Nectar Prices, and argues that shoppers should get its lowest prices without having to sign up, hand over their data or use a smartphone.

Its rivals, however, have become increasingly adept at copying its playbook. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are among those advertising “Aldi price match” products.

Aldi’s argument that shoppers are being duped also sits uneasily with the evidence gathered by the Competition and Markets Authority. The watchdog examined loyalty pricing across around 50,000 grocery products and found very little evidence that supermarkets were artificially inflating prices before applying discounts. Loyalty card members could “almost always” make a genuine saving against the normal price, it found, although some loyalty deals remained more expensive than the cheapest option elsewhere.

Black was equally dismissive. “British shoppers are not stupid,” he said, pointing out that Tesco and Sainsbury’s now compete with Aldi on hundreds of high volume products. “You can see that they’re growing more slowly than the big four, more slowly than Lidl,” he added.

The row comes at a significant moment for the discounters. The CMA has proposed extending the rules governing supermarket land agreements to Aldi and Lidl, arguing that their size and geographic reach mean they should now be treated like the established chains. Until now the discounters have had greater freedom to use restrictive agreements that can prevent rivals opening stores nearby, a freedom that has supported Aldi’s push to open new stores across the UK.

“I think they’re really feeling it, and the CMA ruling is a big thing for them actually, because until now they’ve had a lot of freedom,” Black said. “It’s a very significant moment in the development of the discounters here. It does have the potential to change the dynamics of the market.”

Aldi’s pricing strategy is also under renewed scrutiny from another direction. Earlier this year it cut the price of potatoes, carrots and parsnips to 4p, prompting fears that its cut price approach is offering shoppers unrealistic prices at the expense of British agriculture. Farmers are already under pressure from rising labour and input costs and increasingly unpredictable weather, and the Government’s Farming Profitability Review warned that farm input costs are expected to be 30 per cent higher this year than in 2020, calling for farmers to receive “a fair return for what they produce”.

Black believes supermarkets cannot compete endlessly to make food cheaper without eventually putting pressure on the people producing it. “To be devaluing fresh produce … giving a packet of carrots away for 8p when it costs £4.50 for a cup of coffee is just not helpful to the sustenance of the food system,” he said. “We need a food system from farm to fork that is financially sustainable. And I think that does involve paying more for food.”

Aldi rejects any suggestion that its low prices come at the expense of British farmers. It says it has committed £5 billion to British farming and food production through longer term agreements covering fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat and eggs, alongside £3 billion to British beef suppliers over five years and £1.1 billion to British egg production. The company says its model is based on efficiency rather than squeezing suppliers.

“Loyalty programmes are expensive to run and ultimately lead to higher prices,” an Aldi spokesman said. “We fundamentally believe that the best way to keep grocery bills low for customers is to keep things simple.”

Black, however, said the retailer should stop attacking its rivals. “When we saw Aldi effectively trying to badmouth competitors in a way that was encouraging politicians to get involved, I thought that was bad form,” he said.

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk