The Office of National Statistics has reported that inflation for July has risen to 2.2%. This is the first rise of 2024 after inflation fell during the early part of the year and then settled at 2% for May and June.
A rise was expected because energy prices are now falling by less than they were doing a year ago.
This means that inflation has now gone back above the Bank of England’s target. However, the Bank themselves expected this, and many economic forecasters are predicting that inflation will stay above 2% for the rest of the year.
Encouragingly, inflation for services dropped from 5.7% to 5.2% in July. This was a larger drop than expected and is primarily due to a fall in inflation on restaurant and hotel pricing. It seems this may be due to the temporary effect on pricing brought about by Taylor Swift’s concerts, as well as increases to cover the minimum wage uplifts now levelling off.
The increase suggests that there is still pressure on prices and so business owners need to continue careful budgeting of costs as well as reviewing pricing to ensure profit margins.
See: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/latest
For Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), the issue of late payments can mean the difference between survival or liquidation. The Department for Business & Trade estimates it costs the economy £11 billion annually, forcing 38 businesses to close their doors every day.
Manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers are being warned that significant regulatory change is coming under the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).
